The Legend of Dragoon: The Next Generation
by Archangel and Spike
Summary: Please read and review. The world of today is threatened by a hidden, powerful force, and the Dragoons must once again unite and fend off this evil, but what happens when the bearers of the spirits are only teenagers? Final Chapter Posted. Enjoy!
1. The Move

The Legend of Dragoon: The Next Generation

By Spike and Archangel

Chapter One: The Move

_So, have you got a plan?_

"I always do."

_Other than hit-and-run?_

"'Course not!"

The dragon sighed in his mind. _Can't you be more creative?_

"This isn't the time for creativity." Sean pointed out. "If I spend too much time trying to be fancy, I'll botch the mission. You know I like to improvise anyway!"

_Quite true. Alright. Here he comes. Go for it._

Sean looked down from his hidden perch. He hid in the corner shadows of the rafters of a large room. It was filled with many people, most dressed in black armor. They looked like humans, but they weren't humans. They were vile creatures, bent on killing, with black skin and glowing green eyes. Sean had been watching them for a little while now and discovered one extreme weakness.

They were all linked, mentally. They were all mentally controlled by one man: their leader. Take him out and the whole race (how small it was) would fall. That was his mission: take out the head honcho.

The leader came into the building, draped in black garments and a black cape, filled with glee. He walked up to the other end of the room, the side Sean was on, and sat down on his throne.

"My people, this is it, our last night in hiding!!"

_It's your last night, period._ Sean said to himself.

"Tomorrow, we will rise, we will march to the human lands, and we will TEAR THEM APART!!"

The creatures cheered for their leader. Sean had to smile. This was the part about his job that he loved: shattering an enemy's, right at the peak of their hope.

"Nothing will stop us!" The leader continued. He went on for a little while, saying how they were going to take over the human race. Sean was sick of this guy, but he had to wait for the opportune moment to attack. He had to run from his corner, across the rafters, jump down and strike, all without being seen. "Tonight," the leader said, wrapping everything up, "We celebrate!!" Everyone cheered again.

"C'mon." Sean whispered. "Start the party." Once they were all having their fun, they'd be distracted, giving Sean the chance. One of the leader's mistresses came over and handed him what looked like a champagne bottle. He toyed with the cork, trying to open it. Sean had to chuckle. "All that talk about his power and he can't open a bottle."

Finally, the cork cracked off and flew…right into Sean. It hit him a fraction of an inch above his eye, but the impact startled him.

"Ah!" He shouted, checking his eye for damage. Of course, everyone heard that. They all looked up at the shadowy corner. Sean froze. Maybe they'd look away. But then, the leader fired a fireball from his hands right to where he was sitting.

Sean reacted quickly. He pushed off hard; jumping off the rafter, clear over the fireball. He flipped through the air, over the heads of surprised spectators, and landed right in the isle between them, not far from the leader. He quickly drew his sword, a Claymore, and started to run for his target, but several long, jagged spears stopped him short. Sean looked around. He was surrounded.

"A human?" The leader asked, looking closer. Sean remained silent. "How did you get in here?" Once more, he said nothing. "Will you not speak?" Still nothing. "Perhaps you will tell me exactly why you are here."

"I represent the human race." Sean said. "I don't particularly like your idea of destroying us all. Perhaps we can negotiate something?"

The leader chuckled. "I do not negotiate."

"Good." Sean said. "I can proceed with my plan, then."

"And what plan is that?"

"To kill you and all your followers."

Everyone in the room laughed.

"Now, look here, young human." The leader said through his chuckles. "You're only proving the stupidity of your species. There are many, many of my kind and only one of you."

"But all I have to kill is one person, right?" Sean returned. The leader's smile vanished.

"Kill him!"

Sean ducked at light speed to get below all the spears as they struck, then rolled away before they could resituate themselves. Sean stabbed a soldier with his sword, then jumped up and struck his belly. The soldier fell and Sean spun to block another two strikes. Then, he killed a guard and took his spear to spin and block a few more strikes, then stab another guard in the neck. Sean killed two more with this weapon, and then threw it into a guard standing closest to the leader.

Sean was an unbelievable fighter. He blocked or avoided every strike against him and killed the guards who stood in his way. Sean soon got tired of the attacks against him and decided to end it. He pulled something out of his pocket, a small, round object. Sean pushed something on it and threw it into the larger end of the crowd, then jumped away and ducked down.

A loud explosion rang throughout the room, killing many soldiers. Once it was over, Sean jumped up, and then jumped away to avoid a fireball from the leader. He fired again and again, but Sean was too fast for him. Finally, Sean picked up a spear and threw it at him. The leader burned it too and quickly fired one more flame at Sean. This time, he couldn't dodge it. So, instead, he held his hand up.

The whole time, Sean had a necklace. It was a simple thin chain with a gray orb in the front. It had a long, thin, vertical, black line in the front, like a reptile's pupil. The whole thing looked like a reptilian eye. When that flame was launched, Sean held his hand up and the orb glowed. The flamed connected with Sean's hand and did no damage whatsoever.

The leader's eyes shot open. "Impossible! Humans do not wield such powers!"

"That wasn't my power. It was the power of my comrade: a dragon."

"A dragon?" Suddenly, he let out a sharp gasp of terror. "You cannot be!!"

"But I am." Sean said.

"You're one of the legendary humans that wield a dragon's powers! You're…a Dragoon!!"

Sean nodded. "Yep."

The leader was in disbelief. "DYAH!!" He shouted, firing long flames from his hands. Sean held his own hands up, blocking the blast. Then, they surged with power. A white blast fired from his hands, overcoming the fire and blasting a hole in the leader's stomach.

He gasped in vain and stumbled back, catching himself on his throne. "Dragoon…" He said. Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "If I am to die…I will take you with me!!" He pressed the detonator.

The last thing Sean saw before blacking out was his necklace orb glowing brighter.

Sean's body finally washed up on the shore. He was still unconscious, with blood seeping through his wounds. He needed to wake up and heal himself quickly. Sean's necklace glowed once more. A light emerged from the orb and swirled together, taking on a very large form, the form of a dragon. The large dragon nudged Sean.

"Get up." Sean didn't stir. "Get up." Sean's eyes barely fluttered. "I said get up!" The dragon boomed. Sean's eyes opened more. "Are you just gonna lie there forever? Get up! NOW!!" Sean obeyed. He pushed with his hands, making this the hardest push-up he'd ever done. He forced himself up onto his knees and took a breather.

"I'm up." He wheezed. Sean looked himself over. "Man, I'm a mess." He pulled something out of an item pouch tied to his side and pulled out a glass vial. He shattered the glass and a blue fog surrounded him. Sean breathed in deep several times. The item was called a Healing Fog. It completely restored his body, though he still felt the pain. Sean was used to it.

When he'd rested, Sean looked back in the direction from which the sea had taken him. "I should've guessed that he'd have a desperate resort. But, hey, they're gone and I'm alive." He forced himself to stand. "Don't mess with this." Then, he looked at his watch. "You know, I just don't get this. I travel around, destroying evil, keeping this world safe, and risking my life in the process. Then, I spend the most energy getting home to meet my curfew. Something just ain't right about that."

"I'll fly you." The dragon said. He pulled Sean onto his back and flew.

As you could tell, Sean isn't the average human. With all he does, you'd assume he was an adult. You'd be wrong. He was sixteen. That's right. Sixteen. Barely had his license and he was saving the world. He had no choice. If he didn't do it, no one would.

Sean was a warrior, and a Dragoon. A dragoon was a person who used a dragon's power to fight. That orb around his neck was a Dragoon Spirit, the tangible soul of a dead dragon. The dragon was still conscious, however, and aided Sean often. They were a symbiotic team. Sean would fall without the powers and the dragon couldn't work without a vessel.

Of course, with great power comes great responsibility. Sean had to use these powers to defeat whatever forces threatened the human race. He alone was in charge of annihilating armies of vile beings of all sorts.

Why was such a burden placed upon a teenager instead of an adult? There's a story behind that which we'll get to later. As of now, Sean had gotten pretty good from his years of fighting and was used to his task. However, there was a reason he'd started. He had to find the others, the other Dragoons. There were eight total, including him. So far, he'd been unsuccessful in finding even one other. He wouldn't quit, though. He'd need them.

As Sean said, it was quite ironic that he dealt with so much danger, then had to get home by midnight or else. The dragon flew Sean as close to civilization as he could, then Sean had to run. He looked at his watch as he ran, counting down the minutes. Soon enough, he made it home. He walked in the door and through the house to find his father watching TV.

"11:59 as usual." He said.

Sean shrugged. "I made it, didn't I?"

"Yeah, as usual. Still don't know what you do 'til the last minute."

"Just stuff." Sean said. He always said that. His father didn't know about his being a Dragoon. Nobody knew. Sean rubbed his eyes. "Look, I'm really tired, so I'm going to bed."

"Hold up there, son." His father said. "I gotta talk to ya."

Sean reluctantly turned back around. "Yeah?"

"Sit down." He did so. "Look, uh…I don't know how to say this, but…I just got transferred today. We're moving."

Sean's brow rose. "Moving?"

"Yep."

"To where?" His father told him. "Wow. That's pretty far."

"They're starting a new group out there and wanted me to help 'em out, you know?"

"I guess."

"So…what's your take on this?"

Sean didn't know how to react, really. "Look, dad." He said, rubbing his eyes. "I'm really tired, so why don't you let me sleep on it and I'll tell you what I think in the morning, okay?"

His dad nodded. "Alright. G'night."

"Night." Sean responded, already down the hall. He turned into his room, closed the door, kicked his shoes off, pulled his shirt away and collapsed on the bed. He was asleep in seconds.

However, his dragon friend never slept. A minute or so later, when he was sure Sean was asleep, the dragon reacted again, its spirit glowing only slightly.

Sean's eyes fluttered open. He wasn't in his room. His conscious mind had been pulled into the Dragoon Spirit. It was an endless realm filled with many colors all swirling around a gray environment. He'd been here before, so he knew what to expect. Sean sat up and saw the dragon standing there.

"Moving, eh?" It said.

Sean nodded. "Yep."

"You think it's a good idea?"

"I don't know."

"Where would we be going?" Sean told him and the dragon considered it. Suddenly, a sort of map appeared in the air for both of them to see. "That's a ways away from the perimeter we've been circling."

"I know." Sean said. "That means it's full of places we haven't checked. The other Dragoons might be around there."

"Possibly. But what of enemies?"

"The only real threats we just took out. Things look pretty calm here."

The dragon nodded. "This could be quite advantageous. New places to look for either friend or foe. Sounds like a good idea to me."

"Me too. So, it's settled. We're outta here." Sean summed up.

"When?"

"I don't know. The sooner, the better."

"Indeed."

"Alright, now I have a little human duty to attend to called sleep, so if you don't mind…"

The next thing Sean knew, he was back in his bed. This move would be good. He only hoped he was right about there being Dragoons somewhere around. Sean's mind got to wandering. He looked at his nightstand drawer. For the longest time, he contemplated opening it.

Finally, he hand reached over, grabbed the handle and opened it. Once it was halfway open, Sean stopped and thought some more. He shut it again and rolled over, attempting to get back to sleep.

In two weeks, everything was packed and ready to go. His dad started up the car and pulled from the driveway and the moving truck followed. Sean's arm hung lazily out the passenger window. His head turned to take one last look at his home. He wasn't too hurt by this move. Most teens would think about the friends they'd made and the good times they'd had. Sean didn't have friends, and all he had were bad memories for the past eight years.

He had nothing to look back at. He could only look forward. A small smile began to slide onto his face. He was going as far away from this forsaken place, into a new town, a new life, and a new start. He couldn't wait.

Eighteen hours in a car is enough to make anyone go mad. Thankfully, Sean had been taught patience over and over until it was a natural thing. Still, he was glad to be out of the car. Before stepping inside, Sean looked around his new environment. It was a suburban area, small and quiet. He liked that. He took a moment to stretch and crack various joints, just for the feel of it. He got a look around his new house. It was pretty good, and his room was bigger, so he was satisfied.

They got to work moving things from the truck into the house. Many people came around that day to greet them. They consisted of adults and young children, but no one Sean's age, not that he'd interact anyway. He'd just nod hello and say little else. Sean wasn't a talkative person. He really didn't want to get involved in these conversations, but his father would always point him out and they'd ask about him.

But the question he hated the most was the one everyone wanted to know. Where was "the Mrs.?" And they were always given the same, simple answer: "No longer here."

Their unpacking continued for hours. Sean was unloading boxes of his own stuff and finding places for them in his room. He didn't own much, so this didn't take much time. In the midst of all the other junk, Sean picked up a picture. He quickly stood up and put it in his new nightstand drawer and shut it, more forcefully than intended.

"So you don't even look at her picture anymore?" His father asked from the doorway. Sean didn't look at him.

"I have it memorized, so what's the point?"

His dad sighed and shook his head. "That's no way to deal with it, son."

"Deal with what?" Sean winced.

"Nothing." His father withdrew. Sean shook his head. He didn't need the picture. So…why did he still have it?

Sean went back out a little later to help his dad again when he came. Sean's dad had just gone off with something heavy, assuring Sean, "I got it…I got it!" Once he went in, Sean went to go look for more things to carry. Then, he came. Sean had seen him coming up on his bike, but turned back to the truck before he got there. He didn't think he'd stop, but he did.

"Hey, there." He called. Sean turned around to look at him. He looked about his age. He wasn't as tall as Sean was, but not many teens were. He had a kinda large frame and black hair. He still sat on his bike with one foot supporting him. "Movin' in?"

"Yeah." Sean said, trying to get back to what he was doing. The newcomer got off his bike and walked up to him.

"Need some help there?"

"Nope."

"What's your name?"

"Sean." He still wasn't looking at him.

"I'm Ben." Sean saw his hand in the corner of his eye, wanting to shake. Reluctantly, Sean turned to shake his hand, but when he did, his eyes shot open. There it was, on a necklace around his neck: a Dragoon Spirit. Before either one could say anything, the spirits went nuts. At the sight of each other, they shone with a greater light than Sean had ever seen. They wrapped their hands about their spirits and the light slowly died down.

"Wow." Ben said, rubbing his eyes. "Never done _that_ before. You've got one of those crazy necklaces too?"

"Uh, yeah." Sean said, too amazed to speak.

"They must have some sorta…sensor or something to detect each other."

"WH-what?"

"Hey, speaking of which, do you have any idea as to why these things glow?"

He didn't know?! He finally found a Dragoon and he DIDN'T KNOW?!

"You, uh, don't know?" Sean asked.

"Nah, you?" Ben said, shaking his head.

"Uh, no. I, uh, hoped you did."

Ben sighed. "Guess we'll never know, huh?"

Sean had to stop himself from shouting in frustration. "We might." Was all he said.

"You said your name was Sean, right?"

"Yeah." They shook hands again.

"If ya need me, I live over there." He pointed to a house just a little ways down the street.

"Well," Sean said, trying to think of something. "You could show me around the town."

"Alright, I can do that. Tomorrow? Noon?"

"Sure."

"Cool. Look, I gotta go now, so, welcome to the neighborhood and see ya tomorrow."

"Bye." Sean said. Once he'd gone, Sean turned, trying to get his thoughts back on track, and saw his father standing there.

"Holy cow, you actually talked to someone."

Sean rolled his eyes and picked up a heavy box to carry in. "Sure." He walked past him. When he got to his room, Sean collapsed onto his bed. "Just great."

_Pull it together already!!_ The dragon commanded in his mind. _You're acting like you've already lost the war! We're far from it!! So what if he doesn't know?! You can tell him!_

"How?" Sean muttered loud enough for the dragon to hear, but not anyone else.

_I thought that's what you mean tomorrow for._

"Sorta, but I'm not sure exactly how."

_You'll have to think of something, but make it quick!!_

"You seem anxious."

_Ever since we got here, I feel that something's stirring. _

"Did you sense the Dragoon Spirit?"

_No, that wasn't it. It was something else._

"Here? In this town?"

_Not quite. It's more like…someone's watching it._

"Watching? From where?"

_I cannot tell, but, Sean? Be cautious. Whoever is watching, they're not on our side._

Author's Note: Hi y'all. Archangel here. Spike and I decided to redo our old story because…well…it sucked and we had better ideas, so some major changes and some good keepers. We hope you like this new and improved version. If you're looking for our old versions, you won't find 'em, sorry. But do you like this version better? Please review and tell us!


	2. Realization

Chapter Two: Realization

Sean awoke, ready to take on the day. In his mind, he still wondered how on earth he could explain to Ben about the powers of the Dragoon Spirit he possessed. He'd have to get him somewhere private, that was for sure. So, for the rest of the morning, Sean searched the town for some place private. He tried to keep away from the larger, bustling part of the city and more in the quieter areas.

It was a quaint little town, he had to give it that. It was full of people just going this way and that as part of their daily routine, doing what they do. Poor souls. They had no clue of the terrible dangers that lurked in darkness, just waiting for the opportune moment to attack and wipe out the human race. Sean sometimes wondered if his services were needed. Humans had come a long way in weapon technology of all sorts. Could they take on these threats?

He wondered about that less and less these days. Maybe the humans could fight on their own, but they didn't have to. Sean had wiped out many, many enemies over the years all by himself. The humans didn't need to use their own technology when one Dragoon could do so much. Besides, this way, they were calm and unafraid. Life was better this way.

Sean fought hard to remember those days, not having to worry about anything. However, those days had grown dim in his mind until he could no longer picture himself in that life, an innocent boy living his own life…a happier life. However, there were things you had to sacrifice in this life. Happiness was one of them. Fewer and fewer things could satisfy that need as he grew. He rarely smiled anymore. Sean paid little heed to this. He had to be serious, as the situation was. When dealing with beings that plan to kill every last human and take the planet as their own, Sean didn't have time for such things. After all, knowing that you alone saved your world is satisfaction enough.

Still…

Sean got his thoughts back on track as he traveled through the woods. They were a ways out, far from any houses at all. He hoped to find some spot in the thick greens, anywhere that would be a good place for training the new Dragoon. Suddenly, he found it. He shoved his way through bushes and trees and stepped right into it. It was a massive clearing right there in the midst of the woods. There was plenty of room for anything in here. Plus, there was a lake on one side of the clearing. There was a rim of grass all around it and trees not far off on all other ends.

All in all, this place was perfect. Sean had to smile a little for finding this place. Not only did this town contain a dragoon, but it also contained the perfect place to train him. Speaking of the dragoon, Sean looked at his watch and decided to get back home, so he'd be ready for when Ben got the surprise of his life.

----------

Ben met Sean at his house again. This time, their spirits didn't explode in light. They got to walking and talking and grew to know one another. Ben had spent his whole life in this town, so there wasn't much excitement to tell. Not too much stuff of incredible importance ever happened here. As for the Dragoon Spirit, Ben's father had found it one day and gave it to him for his sixth birthday. He felt strangely attatched to it now, like it had grown on him. Therefore, he made sure to never ever lose it.

Sean had spent his life in his other home, not an incredibly friendly place. It wasn't really a bad town, actually. Sean just didn't have a lot of fond memories there. Ben was curious, but knew better than to pry too deep into the subject. It was obviously hard on Sean.

Ben gave Sean a tour around the town. The town grew busier and busier with every step until it had magically transformed from a suburban area into a city. Sean only paid slight attention as Ben would point out things. His mind was still stuck on how to tell Ben about the amazing powers he didn't even know he had.

However, this situation suddenly grew bigger in the process of half an hour. They were walking on another of the many sidewalks when Ben looked up and saw him heading right to them. He gave a small smile and nodded to him.

"Wassup, loser?" The teen asked. Sean looked him over. He was rather tall for his age with a think, lanky kind of frame and dark brown hair.

"Who?" Sean asked.

"Robert Williams." Ben explained. "Rob, this is Sean McMann. He just moved in near my house."

"Sup?" Robert greeted, shaking his hand. "Hey, I'm headin' into the arcade here." He said, jerking his thumb towards the building right next to them. "Care to get whooped?"

Ben smiled at the challenge. "You're on. C'mon, Sean." The three of them went in.

_Something's up with that boy._ The Divine Dragon suddenly said in Sean's mind. Of course, he couldn't respond in public without looking like a fool, so he just listened. _I can feel some kind of…energy flowing throughout him. I believe I've felt it before, but…_ His voice drifted off. Sean couldn't ask "But what?" Just then, he didn't have to wonder anymore. Sean and Ben popped in their quarters and while the game was getting ready, Rob spoke.

"Alright." He said. "Just for luck…" Then, he pulled a necklace out from under his shirt. It wasn't just a necklace, though. It, too, had a Dragoon Spirit attached to the end. His was a jade green color. Suddenly, his spirit and Sean's reacted with each other, glowing intensely. Both boys quickly covered the light as best they could, then looked at each other and away from the staring crowd. Robert looked at Sean's Dragoon Spirit. "You got one too, eh? Welcome to the freak show."

Sean couldn't believe this. Two Dragoon Spirits in two days.

_Remarkable, isn't it?_ The dragon said. _And it's not over yet. I can sense another one nearby._

Three?!

_Look around for it._ Sean did so. While Ben and Robert played, Sean's eyes scanned the room. Unfortunately, most people were faced away from them to play other arcade games or talk to people. Besides, they could be hidden under their shirt, like Robert's was.

It wasn't long after before Robert defeated Ben. "Care to try your luck, new guy?" The champ asked Sean.

"Hm?" He asked, turning back to him.

"I whooped Ben, now it's your turn, c'mon."

"Uh…okay. Let me figure out the controls first." It was a fighting game, so the controls weren't too complex and he easily got the hang of it. Soon afterwards, Rob was sweating. His character had only a fourth of its life left while Sean's still had all of its health.

"Wow, Rob." Ben observed. "You're not doin' so hot."

"SHUT UP!!" He commanded. Finally, he unleashed a great combo that finally broke through Sean's defense and did some damage. However, Sean's character suddenly reversed the attack and finished him off. "What the?!" Rob exclaimed. "You've played this game a lot, haven't you?"

Sean shook his head. "Not this one in particular, but I play a lot of fighting games. Next?" Rob groaned as Ben took his spot and took on the new champ. Ben had been watching Sean's movements and learned the benefits of blocking correctly, so Sean was having a bit a harder time. Robert's strategy was to go all out and never give the opponent the chance. When Sean had constantly blocked those moves, he couldn't win. Now, both guys were taking the defensive. Naturally, Robert grew bored of this tiresome strategy and just looked around the room, seeing if he could spot anybody he knew.

Sean and Ben had each paid half of their character's health when Robert's eyes perked open. He leaned over to Ben. "O'Riley, four o'clock."

Ben was suddenly distracted. "Which was is she facing?"

"Away."

Ben spun around and Sean finished him hardly off easily. "Keep your eyes on the target, Ben. What distracted you?"

Robert explained. "Melissa O'Riley."

"Who?"

"She's in out grade. Best backyard in the school." He let out a chuckle. Sean looked around in the direction they were staring.

"Where?"

"Leaning over the counter over there. Long, black hair." Sean looked and saw her. He didn't think about this kind of thing too often, but he had to admit that Rob was right. Nice "backyard".

"No!" Ben said, turning back around. "Mustn't look. Not…right."

"Good for you, Ben." Sean said, also turning back around. Robert snorted.

"Give me a break. He's just not looking because he's head over heels for another girl and he's afraid she'll know he was checking out someone else and never ever like him."

Ben's face went red. "…So?!"

Robert laughed and looked at Melissa again. "Aw, nuts. She turned around. Well, it's alright. She's also got a nice-"

"Why don't you try admiring her _face_, you pervert." Sean said, also turning around to get a look at her. Ben turned around also, seeing as it was alright now, and all three guys saw it. Ben and Robert paid no heed, but Sean could only stare. She, too, had a Dragoon Spirit. This one was a very dark blue color.

_Incredible._ The dragon said. _Three Spirits in one town._

Sean said nothing and just kept looking at it.

Rob had to laugh. "You call me a pervert and you stare right along with me?"

Sean snapped back into focus. "I was just looking at the necklace she has. It's like ours."

"So," Robert gathered, "You were staring at her chest?"

Sean gave him a look. "Shut up." Robert laughed. Then, Sean's spirit began to glow. He quickly covered it before it got too bright and he saw Melissa's spirit glow a little, and then die out. She looked at it, perplexed, then shook her head and went on with her life.

"Boy." Sean said. "Why do they keep doing that?" Of course, he meant for the dragon to hear that, which he did.

_I'm letting the other dragons know that I am here. They're lying dormant, I am stirring them again. From what I've gathered, none of them have ever spoken to their spirit bearer. They have no link with them. We must establish one and awaken their powers._

Uh-huh, was all Sean could think. Just then, Melissa walked by, heading for the door. Robert and Ben quickly turned around back to the game. Sean turned his head and looked at them.

"What's up with you two?"

Of course, Melissa saw them turn like that and walked over to them.

"Well," She said to Robert's back, "If it isn't the stalker."

Robert turned around with a grin. "You know you like it."

Melissa roller her eyes at him and turned to the next one. "Hi, Ben."

"Hey." He said. Then, she looked at Sean.

"Wow, you guys finally found the third stooge. What's his name?"

"Sean McMann." Ben introduced. "Sean, this is-oh, boy." He quickly covered his eyes, as did Sean. The Dragoon Spirits reacted again, creating another great light. They died down quickly, but Melissa was half blind now.

"Geez." She said. Then, she looked at Sean. "Please tell me _you_ know something about these things."

"If I knew, I would tell you." Sean replied. Then, he shook her hand to complete the introduction. As he did, he looked her over. She was a looker, that was for sure. One thing Sean didn't catch her as was a wimp. Something about her just said "don't mess with me." As said before, she had long black hair that drifted down to her rear. But what caught Sean's attention the most were her eyes. He saw something in them, a sort of spark. A lively spirit. He'd seen it before, but where?

"Alright then, I've gotta go, so," She looked at Sean, "nice to meet you," she looked at Ben, "see you as school," she looked at Robert, "quit staring." She turned away.

"I can't help it if you're beautiful!" Robert said. She ignored the comment and left.

Ben looked at Sean and saw him gazing at her as she left. He waved his hand in front of Sean's face. "Hello in there."

Sean snapped back to attention. Ben had to smile.

"You like her, don't you?"

"No! Well, yes. I mean, I like her as in she seems like a nice girl and all, but I don't like her in the way you're insinuating."

"You couldn't get your eyes off her, man!"

"She just reminds me of someone, okay?"

"Oh, yeah? Who?"

Sean sighed. "I can't tell."

"Right." Ben said, shaking his head.

Sean looked over in the direction in which Melissa had left. He hoped he could see her again and place his memories, as well as show her the powers she possessed.

----------

Robert and Ben continued Sean's tour soon thereafter. Sean still hadn't figured out a way to tell these two about Dragoons.

Fortunately for him, his chance came not too long after they'd left the arcade. They'd finished gaming and got a bite to eat, then ventured on, pointing out various hotspots. They had just stopped by the small building that the guys said was where the town's newspaper was printed. They were about to get the story of the century.

_Sean,_ the dragon said, _something's wrong._ Sean looked around for any signs of danger, but couldn't see anything. _Something's coming…_ Sean grew tense and his eye continued to search. _In the air!_ Sean looked up, but saw nothing. Then, he heard it. It sounded like an airplane, but the dragon was an expert at detecting evil. What could it be?

Suddenly, the sound flew right over their heads. All three guys spun around and looked up.

"What was that?" Ben asked. "A plane?"

Then, the sound went over their heads again and they turned again to look.

"Too fast for a plane." Robert noted.

Sean's eyes narrowed. He didn't have his sword, so he'd have to work with magic only.

ZOOM! There it went again! Back and forth it flew. Its movement puzzled Sean, but the dragon knew.

It's doing one of two things. One, it's surveying the area, seeing what it's getting into before actually getting into it.

Or? Sean thought.

_Or it's looking for something._

Looking for what? It flew over them again and once more, their heads turned to follow it.

"What on earth IS that thing?!" Robert exclaimed. They kept their eyes in that direction, waiting for it to go over again. However, it didn't. It just stopped.

"That was…freaky." Ben said, for lack of a better word. Sean scratched his head.

"What's it doing now?" He wondered aloud.

I doubt it fled. It's probably waiting for the opportune moment to strike, but I can't say for sure. Keep a sharp eye.

Sean nodded discretely and looked around again. Rob suddenly chuckled.

"Hey, Ben." He said, "Someone's got a laser pen." Sean turned and looked at him. Sure enough, he had a little red dot on his shirt.

"Oh, come on." Ben groaned. "Who's immature enough to do that?" Just a few seconds later, the dot vanished. "There, thank you." Suddenly, the dragon exploded.

_SEAN!! GET HIM OUT OF THE WAY!!!!_

Sean suddenly felt it too. He looked up and barely saw a white dot.

"LOOK OUT!!" He shouted, tackling Ben and Robert both. They were knocked back off the sidewalk and into and alley just in time. A white energy beam blasted the ground where they had just been. The explosion of the impact sent the three of them flying even further. They hit the ground hard and rolled a good ways before finally coming to a stop.

"Ah…" Ben groaned. "Wh-what was that?!"

Sean ran right back out into the streets and looked around. People were screaming and panicking already. He looked up at the sky and saw nothing.

"Sean!" Ben shouted, pointing to him. He looked down just in time to see the red dot disappear. He jumped back into the alley just as another blast fired. Now, it was real pandemonium. The humans were shouting and running away from an unseen foe.

"What's going on?!" Robert exclaimed.

"I'm not sure." Sean said. He poked his head out into the alley again and saw it coming. It was a very large monster with ivory skin. It had a very wide head with two wings sprouting from the back of either side. Seven green eyes were in the front of its "face", with the largest in the middle. It had two long arms with five fingers and two long legs with three claws. It swooped across the sky and landed near the alley.

_It cannot be…_The dragon said in awe.

"What?! What is it?!" Sean demanded.

"That's what WE'D like to know!!" Robert exclaimed.

_A virage!!_ Sean's eyes shot open. A virage?!

The menacing beast looked around, seeming to search for something. Then, it turned its head and looked down the alley. A little red light, like a laser pen, shone from its middle eye and pointed Sean out.

"Uh-oh…" Was all Ben could say. They were stuck in an alley with no place to run. The little light disappeared and the virage's eye began to glow.

"Stay back!" Sean shouted.

"What are you doing?!" Robert shouted back.

Sean's Dragoon Spirit glowed brightly just as the virage fired. Sean shot his hands forward and braced himself. The beam hit him hard and pushed him back a little, but no further. He held the blast back with his hands as the Dragoon Spirit enabled them to do so. Within a few seconds, the attack stopped, but Sean was knocked onto his back from the force.

Ben and Robert stared.

"How…what…how…he…but…what?!" Ben stammered.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" Robert blasted.

Sean got back onto his feet. "I'll explain later." Then, he held up his hand and a small, glowing ball formed. He threw it at the virage and it blasted the side of its head. The virage stepped back, stumbled on a car and fell onto its back. Sean ran out of the alley as the virage started to get back up.

"What is he doing?!" Robert wondered.

"He's gonna get killed!" Ben said, running out.

"What are YOU doing?!" Robert shouted, chasing after him.

The streets had been deserted now that the virage was there, so Sean felt safe to express his abilities. Sean jumped up higher than any human can ever jump and kicked the virage in the face. It took the blow and continued to stand. Sean landed and jumped again, but the virage swung a punch, knocking him back to the ground. He hit hard and rolled a ways. As he was rolling the virage shone its light again.

"Oh, shoot!" Ben exclaimed, rushing towards Sean. Robert started to, but then stopped and got a better idea.

"HEY!" He shouted. "HEY, UGLY!! OVER HERE!!"

The virage actually turned its head and looked at Robert, jumping and waving his arms around.

"C'mon, you freak-alien! Over here!" He taunted.

"What are you doing?!" Ben called to him.

"Distracting!!" He called back. Robert started running as he taunted and the virage tried focusing its beam, but Robert kept running back and forth and the virage couldn't lock-on. So, the virage started walking after him.

"He's got guts." Sean granted.

"But no brain." Ben sighed. "He's gonna get killed!"

"Then I suggest you do something about it." Sean replied with a small grin.

"What?!"

"He is your friend, right?"

"Of course!"

"Then help him!"

"How?!" Ben wondered.

"By using the power you've had since you were six."

"Huh?!"

Sean pointed to his Dragoon Spirit. "That thing contains more firepower than you can imagine. It's been laying dormant for years, just waiting for you to call on it. Now, I'm going to awaken that power for you." Sean put his hand on Ben's chest over the Dragoon Spirit as his own Spirit began to glow. "Awaken…spirit of the Red-Eye Dragoon."

With that command, Ben's spirit glowed again, a deep, fiery red. Sean removed his hand and stepped back a bit. Ben stared at the spirit, wondering what was happening. Suddenly, a burst of energy shot within him.

"AH!" He shouted, falling to his knees. His chest felt like it would explode. The feeling began spreading throughout his body. He saw a red trail flowing down his arm through his veins until it reached his fingers. The pain traveled with it, all over him. Finally, with a great shout, the powers burst. Fire erupted from all around him, engulfing him. Sean protected himself with his own Dragoon Spirit and watch, eagerly.

Suddenly, the flaming human shot up through the sky, flying this way and that uncontrollably, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. Three virage turned and looked at this new sight, watching it fly around. Finally, Ben crash-landed back in front of Sean, shooting out a great wave of fire. When the flames finally started to die down, Ben was a whole new person.

Thick, red armor not covered his chest to his waist, and kind of flowed off at the sides. His lower legs and feet were covered with red boots that went up to his knees. His arms were covered in red gloves that went up to his elbows. Armor on his shoulders stuck about a foot coming to a sort of dull point. A red headband was wrapped around his head, and his dragoon spirit was larger now, and imbedded in the armor. To top it off, two wings sprouted from Ben's back.

He looked himself over in awe. "What…what happened to me?!" Ben demanded.

"Your Dragoon powers have been awakened."

"Dragoon?! Powers?! What?!"

Sean looked over and saw the virage starting to come their way again.

"No time to explain it all. All you need to know now is you're stronger, faster, you can fly, and you can use the power of fire to you advantage."

"Uh…what?"

Sean rolled his eyes. "Here." He put his hand on Ben's spirit and it glowed again. Suddenly, a katana appeared in Ben's hand. "Alright. Use that. First lesson: flight."

"Okay."

"Flap your wings." Ben did so, but he didn't seem to be going anywhere. They both looked and saw the virage.

"Fly, man, fly!!"

"I'm trying!!"

Sean looked and saw the virage raised its hand to strike. "Oh, come on!" His spirit shone, then Ben's did and suddenly, Ben took off.

"WHOOOOOAAAAAA!!!!" He shouted, shooting through the air. "HOW DO YOU CONTROL THIS THHIIIIIINNNGGGG?!?!?!?!"

"Just let the dragon fly for now!!" Sean shouted. "You concentrate on fighting!!"

"Dragon?! What dragon?!"

"YOU'RE ON AUTO-PILOT!! JUST SWING YOUR SWORD AND HIT SOMETHING!!!!!" Sean exploded.

Ben suddenly noticed he was flying right for the virage. He looked at his sword. "Okay…" They flew over it and it raised its hand to grab him. "WAH!!" Ben swung and sliced its hand just in time. The virage screeched and lowered its hand and Ben continued flying. "Whoa!! I hit it!! I actually hit it!!"

"Great!" Sean called back. "But it's still alive! Take it down!!"

"Okay!" Ben said, suddenly getting into this. He flew around, looking for a good spot to attack, not that he had any control over his flying. The virage circled around, unable to fire its beam and just swiped at him when he got near, but Ben simply spun and avoided the strike.

Meanwhile, Sean ran over to Robert, who was still trying to catch his breath from running from the monster.

"You alright?" Sean asked him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. But…what happened to Ben, man?"

"The same thing that's going to happen to you."

"Eh?"

Sean helped Robert up and put his hand over his Dragoon spirit as his own started to glow.

"Awaken, Spirit of the Jade Dragon."

His spirit glowed brightly and the same thing happened to Robert that had happened to Ben. First, the power simply radiated and shone, then poured into Robert's unprepared body, swelling it with energy. Unlike Ben, however, he saw a green line trailing down his veins. Plus, he wasn't surrounded by fire. It was hard to tell what he was surrounded by, if you didn't know what to look for. It just looked like a bunch of air swirling around him, but that's what Robert's element was: Wind.

Robert fell to the ground in pain as the wind continued to surge within him until finally breaking free of his body by force. A great, green tornado formed around him, traveling up to the sky, swirling the clouds. Finally, it all released in a great burst of wind. Sean had to fight to hold his ground.

When the wind and the glowing stopped, Robert was, like Ben, completely different. His armor was very similar to Ben's except that everything about his armor was green.

"Wh-what the?!" Robert wondered. Sean put his hand on the spirit again and a spear appeared in Robert's hand and he started hovering. "Wh-whoa!!"

"Let the dragon do the flying. You just attack. Go!" With that, he was off.

Sean looked at the two dragoons as they flew around uncontrollably. The virage watched, trying to get a lock-on, but failing.

Robert suddenly shot forward and sliced the virage's head. It roared and swung at him, but Rob dropped just in time, not by his own doing, of course.

Just then, Ben came back around with his sword ready again.

"Okay." Ben said to himself. "Try to hit something important!" However, before he could, the virage turned and saw him and swing its fist, knocking Ben away. His wings flapped to regain altitude again before hitting the ground, but he'd be feeling the blow in the morning. He flew back up again and saw Robert receive the same treatment.

Ben thought back to all his video game experience and came to a conclusion. "That arm is just gonna cause trouble. It's gotta go!" He had expected to just go towards it, but he was wrong. Without warning, he flew straight up!

"WHOA!" He shouted as he flew. How could this help his plan?! Then, he did a loop and went right back down. While Robert distracted it, Ben flew right for the shoulder. "Oh," He said, "This will work." He raised up his sword and waited until he was right above it, then swung as he fell, cutting clean through the shoulder joint, cutting off the arm.

The virage roared in extreme pain and clutched the wound with its good arm. "Ha, ha!" Ben laughed. "Take that!!"

Sean nodded at Ben's decision to take out the arm. Now, the battle would be easier.

The virage was angry now. It held its good hand up in the air until it glowed a bright blue. Then, it jumped back, as to get both its opponents in range, and released a strange, blue smoke from that hand. The smoke billowed around them, stinging like an acid. Their armor protected them, mostly, but it still burned. They descended to the ground to recover.

"Man…" Robert grumbled. "What kind of weapons does this thing have?!" Then, he saw a picture in his mind. It was a man, about in his early twenties, wearing the same armor, but he seemed to be used to it. He did something, a strange move…an attack! Then, the scene faded from Robert's mind. Somehow, he thought that just might work. "Well…it's worth a shot. He jumped back up and his wings flew him up until he was about eye level with the virage, but a reasonable distance away.

Robert held his spear out in front of him, horizontally. A great rush of wind expelled from his body and into the spear, taking the shape of a large, green bird made of wind gales. He pulled the spear back and remembered what the other man had said in the vision, then shouted it himself.

"Wing Blaster!" He shoved the spear outward and the bird launched off like a rocket and rammed into the virage's head. It roared and reeled back from the force, nearly falling over. "Whoa…NOW things are getting good! WHOA!!" Robert body suddenly flew forward, straight for the virage's other shoulder. Robert got the hint and aimed. His spearhead stuck into the virage's shoulder and the monster roared, but the thin blade wouldn't cut through the whole thing. But then, extremely strong wind gales shot from all around the spearhead, slicing through skin and bone and detaching the arm from the body.

The virage screamed again as Robert flew back to Ben. They smiled to each other, knowing it was all but over now. The virage was helpless.

"What do you say we finish the job?" Ben asked.

"I like it." Robert said. They flew for the virages head, weapons ready.

"They're good." Sean said. "The virage doesn't have enough time to fire its beam. It is helpless now."

_Unless…_

"Unless what?" Sean asked. Then, he got his answer.

The virage looked up at its foes and its eyes suddenly glowed yellow. Everything warped for Ben and Robert. The world was spinning and swirling out of focus. Plus, a strong pressure was squeezing their heads.

"AHH!!" They both shouted, floating down to the ground. Soon enough, the virage stopped, but the effect lingered. The boys had lost all perspective of the world, and were unable to see straight, much less stand up.

After a few seconds, Ben's world started returning to normal again. The many virages were slowly merging together to form the one true virage, and Ben was not happy with what he saw. The virage moved towards them, its eyes glowing again. Then, it lurched its left side forward and a new arm shot from the socket. Then, it did the same to the right. The virage's arms had grown back.

"Aw, man…" Ben groaned.

"Don't let it discourage you." Sean said. "Keep going."

Ben nodded, faintly. "Okay," He said, "Sean said I had the power of fire…whatever. So…how am I supposed to use it?" Then, he had a vision similar to Rob's. It was a man in his armor performing a fiery attack that looked devastating. A feeling overwhelmed him. A feeling called "What if…?"

"Well, what else have I got?" Ben asked to no one in particular. Suddenly, he wings flapped and brought him into the air again at eye level with the virage. It looked up and started focusing its laser again.

Ben tossed his katana up into the air and looked at the virage. Fire came from his Dragoon Spirit and mixed together in the shape of a large ball. Ben reeled back his fist.

"Flameshot!" He declared, punching the fireball into the virage's face. At the same time, the virage fired its laser, but the fireball was too close. The attacks mixed and exploded in the virage's face.

The virage screamed in utter agony, clutching its face. Ben had to smile. Robert did too, now regaining perspective on the world. Sean kept his solid face, but nodded. The virage soon stopped it shrieking and fell to the ground, dead.

Suddenly, fire erupted from Ben's hand and struck the virage. The blaze continued lash out and Ben was unable to control it. The virage was covered in fire and the body burned. The fire stopped producing and just worked on eliminating the dead body.

Robert had to step back, seeing as the fire was hotter than anything he'd ever felt. Ben went over and joined him and Sean came over to them.

"Well done." He said. Then, the boys' Dragoon Spirits glowed again. Their power was drained from them and they returned to their normal selves. Yet, there was one oddity: They still had their weapons. They looked at them for a moment, then, Robert finally asked the obvious question.

"What…happened…back…there?!"

"Follow me and I'll explain everything. Take your weapons with you, and please don't ask about them." That last part closed Robert's mouth. Sean ran off. Ben and Robert looked at each other, then shook their heads and followed. What else could they do?

Author's Note: So Sean found two more Dragoons. What will they think? And where are the rest of them? Those answers coming soon. Please review!


	3. Explination

Chapter Three: Explanation

The three of them ran away from the smoldering body. However, instead of taking the main streets, Sean led them through several alleys. Of course, he had no idea where he was, so he just kind of wandered around until finally emerging a ways away. Police were making their way in, as well as medical personnel. Sean ducked back and tried going through more allies.

Robert spoke up. "Sean, where are we going?"

"I'm trying to find a way out that will not involve police and paramedics?" He poked his head out of another alleyway.

"Why?" Ben asked.

Sean looked around and whispered. "No one can know."

"Why?"

"Follow me and I'll explain everything." He began jogging away. Ben and Robert looked at each other.

"How far do you think this will go?" Robert asked.

"What do you mean?" Ben replied.

"How crazy do you think it'll get?"

"Who can tell? All I know is Sean has the answers, so I'm gonna follow him."

Robert sighed. "Me too, but why do I have a feeling that once we're pulled into Sean's little web, there's no crawling out?"

-----

Ben had lived in this town all his life and Robert most of it. Even so, neither one of them knew where it was they were going.

Sean led them both out of the city, far away from the buildings and the bustling streets and the large crowds. The human creations waned and nature began showing itself more and more. When they got to the suburbs, Sean snuck around his own house and found what he had hidden: A sword in its sheath. It seemed thicker than Ben's, and about as long.

He didn't say anything, no matter how much Ben and Robert asked. Finally, they subjected themselves to silence.

Sean brought them far from even the suburbs and into the thick of a deep, wooded area. They fought with the trees for space, often losing. There were a few slightly clear paths, but they mostly pushed and shoved through bushes and branches, getting cuts and scrapes everywhere.

"This is insane!" Robert said. "No one in their right mind would go through here."

Sean replied, "That is why it is the ideal place to go."

The boys looked at each other, then shook their heads and continued on. Ben finally got smart enough to use his sword to hack through bushes, but Sean stopped him.

"You will eventually grow used to the roughness of this trail, but we do not want anyone else to."

"Eventually?" Robert noted. "You mean we'll be coming here more?"

"A lot more, if you two comply."

Sean just kept on speaking in riddles. Of course, they had no option but to follow him, as he was the only one who knew the way to whatever destination they were going to, as well as they way home.

At long last, they entered a clearing in the woods, and a large one with that, complete with lake.

"Finally." Robert said, relieved, "A clearing."

"We can rest." Ben said, sitting down.

"No need, really." Sean said. "We're here."

"Here?!" Robert exclaimed. "We're in the middle of nowhere!!"

"Exactly."

"I can't take it anymore!! Speak English, man! Tell us what on earth is going on, and I mean now!!"

"What exactly do you want to know?"

Robert wanted to punch him right there, but restrained himself. "What do I want to know? Let's check the list, shall we? What happened back there?! What happened to us, what was that monster, why can't we tell anyone about it, where are we, why is this such a good spot, why do we have to keep coming back here, how do you know all the answers I know you're about to produce, and above all, WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME?!"

Sean kept his blank face the whole time. "Why did you follow me and do as I asked even though you had all those questions?"

Robert searched had for an answer. When he couldn't find one, he said, "I asked you first!" Then, he crossed his arms in some sort of victory.

Sean shook his head. "Alright, let's narrow it down. What question do you want answered first."

"What happened to us?" Ben asked automatically.

Sean nodded. "Alright. What happened was this: you two were transformed into two of the most incredible warriors this planet has ever known: Dragoons."

"Come again?" Robert asked.

"When a dragon dies, it-"

"Whoa, hold up. Dragon?"

"Yes, they exist. Well, they used to exist. I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out. When a dragon dies, it has the ability to pass it spirit on to a human. Those orbs on your necklaces are spirits of two dragons. We call them Dragoon Spirits."

"Okay…" Robert said, "But that still doesn't explain what happened."

"Sure it does. When a dragon passes its power on to a human, certain things come with it. One is the armor you two wore. That armor is as hard and resilient as the dragon's scales were when it was alive. Those weapons are part of the deal also. The second thing is the ability to fly. I'm sure you noticed the wings coming from your backs. They also belonged to the dragon in its life. The third thing is the most important. When in Dragoon form, you possess the skills and abilities that the dragon once did. Now, you don't have them all yet, not by a long shot. Humans were not made for great quantities of power. The dragons have to break you in, you see."

"Alright." Ben said, kind of liking this. "So…Robert and I are these Dragoons?"

"Yes, you are."

"And we can use all the dragons' powers. That would explain the fire."

"Indeed it would. In life, Ben, the dragon that gave you its powers was known as the Red-Eye Dragon, a dragon of fire."

"And mine?" Robert asked.

"The Jade Dragon, ruler of the wind."

"Wind? That lame."

"You say that after seeing just a tiny hint of what you can do with that power?"

"Well…okay, but I have a quick question. How were we flying back there?"

"You, of course, have no experience in flying, and there was no time to teach you. That being said, the dragons themselves took control of the wings and left the rest to you."

"Took control…you mean…they can think?"

"Yes. They are the spirits of the dragons, after all, they have a conscious mind."

Ben looked down at his spirit, and it looked back up at him. Ben quickly looked up, to avoid freaking out.

"We cannot force the dragon to give us their powers. They choose their spirits on their own free will. They're dragons. Nobody tells them what to do. These particular dragons have chosen you to be their bearers."

"Well, I feel special." Robert said, sarcastically.

"You should." Sean said. "Billions of people in the world and the dragon chose you, a simple human, to use its powers."

"Important question." Ben said, raising his hand as if he were in class. "What does this all mean? I mean, if the dragons chose us, there's got to be a reason. After all, this hasn't happened before."

"Yes, it has." Sean corrected. "But it was a long time ago. 800 years, to be exact. 11,000 years before that it also happened. We are the third generation of Dragoons."

"Uh-huh…"

"You'll understand later. And as for your question, it means one thing: trouble."

"I was afraid of that."

"Dragons don't just give their powers to humans for no reason. Dragoons are called to fight. That's their purpose in life. We are called to do battle."

"With what?" Ben wasn't so sure he really wanted to know.

"Anything and everything; anything that threatens the human race. Dragons have taken a liking to humans, so they're helping us in wiping out anything that threatens us. I, myself, have taken on quite a few of these enemies. I've wiped out a number of races that plan to destroy us all."

"How come we never hear about these enemies?" Robert asked. "Is this what they're hiding in Area 51?"

"Nope. They never hear because I never tell."

"Why not? And why couldn't we tell anyone about us transforming?"

"A number of reasons. Mainly, the world just isn't ready for Dragoons. Humans tend to worry too much. It is better for them to not know about what we do. That why I never tell anyone about my battles."

"So we save the human race and get no credit?!" Robert said. "That bites!"

"We're not here for publicity, Robert. We're here to protect. Nobody can know our secret, not your friends, you family, no one. Only the Dragoons themselves can know of the evils threatening to destroy us all. It's just the way it has to be."

"You keep saying 'we'." Ben noticed. "And I notice you also have a Dragoon Spirit, so I'm going to put two and two together here. You're a Dragoon as well, obviously. Which one are you?"

"My Dragoon spirit comes from the most powerful of all dragons: The Divine Dragon."

"So, I'm guessing your Dragoon is more powerful than ours."

"Indeed."

"Why didn't you help us fight back there, then?" Robert asked.

"I needed to test you two, and to throw you right into the heat of battle. You did well."

"What was that monster, anyway?"

"It's a hideous being called a virage."

"One of the evils that threaten to destroy us?"

"I'm not sure, really. You see, I thought they were all extinct. But even so, virages don't just attack somewhere." He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it needed food, though I doubt it. Maybe it was a vendetta against us Dragoons, seeing as dragons are the virages' archenemies. However, I think there's more to it."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked.

"I believe someone, or something, may be behind the attack today."

"Who?"

"I wouldn't know."

There was a short silence, then Robert spoke up again. "Alright, so, basically, we all have superhuman powers given to us by dead dragons, and the three of us are expected to save the world?"

"Not just the three of us. There are more."

"More?"

"Yes. There are a total of eight Dragoons, including us. We need them all together to be at our strongest."

"So where are the rest?"

"Therein lies the dilemma. There's almost no way to tell where the other Dragoons are. They could be anywhere. The spirits have long since been scattered. I have been searching for them for a long time now, and found nothing until now. I've made a wide radius around my own home and I know where the Dragoons are _not_. Thankfully, we know where one more is, other than us."

"We do? "Ben asked.

"Yeah!" Robert said. "Melissa O'Riley!"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Melissa is the Dark Dragoon." Sean said, "A very unique and powerful element. Do you two know anyone else who has a Dragoon Spirit?"

Robert shook his head, but Ben scratched his chin. "Well, I think so."

"Who?" Sean asked.

"A girl at our school, Christie Seedley."

"Oh," Robert said. "You mean your soul mate, your true love, the one female you absolutely cannot live without??" Robert voice grew increasingly sarcastic.

"What?" Sean wondered.

"Remember that girl I told you Ben liked? That's here. He's liked Christie since I can't remember."

"What color is her Dragoon Spirit?" Sean asked, getting back to the point.

"White."

"The White-Silver Dragoon, Dragoon of light. Very good, she'll be very helpful."

"How?"

"The White-Silver Dragon is filled with healing magic. She can aid us in battle."

"So," Robert said. "We gotta pull Melissa and Christie into this?"

"We have to."

"Alright."

"We also must keep our eyes peeled for the other Dragoons. Now, any other questions?"

"Yeah." Robert said. "Why are we here? And how do you know about this place? We don't even know about it and we live here!"

"I went searching for a private spot and this place was perfect."

"You went through all that trouble just to find a place to tell us all this?"

"Not just that. This is where we will be training."

"Training?" Both boys asked.

"Of course! You two are only novice Dragoons! It will be my job to teach you everything about Dragoons-how to fight, fly, use magic, the whole shebang. I wouldn't send you out into battle inexperienced. And this is the perfect place to do so because, well, look at it! It's in the middle of nowhere. And all the thick brush we had to get through to get to here? It was a nightmare. Most people would just turn back and go another way, so we will not be disturbed. We can come here and train every day."

Ben and Robert looked at each other.

"Well, I've answered all your questions, so now I ask you one. What do you say? You ready to join me in the fight to save our species?"

Robert scratched the back of his head. "I don't know, man. I mean…this is all pretty intense."

"It is at first, but you'll get used to it."

"I don't know if I _want_ to get used to it! This is totally crazy. Besides, you seem to do pretty well on your own."

"Thus far, but not forever. I am going to need your help and the other Dragoons' help soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

Sean hesitated, trying to put it into words. "Something is coming. I can feel it, and I know it's stronger than anything I've even known. I cannot beat it on my own. I'll need your help."

There was a long silence. Finally, Robert spoke.

"Look after that ordeal with the…what was it…virage, my mom's gonna be freakin' out, so I gotta get home." He turned and left just like that. Ben stayed for another few seconds.

"Just…give us some time to think about it, okay?" Then, he left.

Sean sighed.

_You did all you were supposed to do. _The Divine Dragon said to him. _This decision is their own. Of course…it doesn't mean we can't influence them. _

"You mean I should try again?"

_No, I mean their dragons will do it for you._

_----- _

Ben had a little trouble sleeping that night, for his mind kept going back to Sean's story. He couldn't really argue with the truthfulness of it. But could he accept it?

After two hours of tossing and turning, Ben finally drifted into slumber. What seemed like a second later, Ben woke up again. He wasn't in his room. Ben's eyes opened wider. He rubbed them to make sure he was seeing straight.

Ben was in, what seemed to be, and endless space. Everything was red and there seemed to be fire everywhere, yet nowhere. It was kind of a translucent type of red flame.

"Okaaay." Ben said. "This is without a doubt the weirdest dream ever."

"It's not a dream."

Ben nearly jumped out of his skin. "Who said that?!"

"Calm down already."

"What?!" Ben pinched himself. "OW!!"

"I told you so." The voice chuckled.

Ben rubbed his sore arm. "Who is that?! And where are you?!"

"I'm right here." A group of the translucent flames formed together and took shape. The bigger they got, the more uncomfortable Ben became. Finally, its shape became fully apparent. It was long and deep red. It head was like an arrow, tall in the back and coming together at the end. Its mouth was underneath the arrow. It had two green eyes and two very large red wings. It stood on four legs and red blades came from its shoulders and smaller ones rode down its back, and across its tail.

"What…what…what?!" That was all Ben could bring himself to say.

"Hm." The creature said. "Perhaps this form is too intimidating." It became flames once again and began shrinking. When it formed together, it was the same shape, but smaller. When it held its head up, it was as tall as Ben. "There we go."

"Eh?! Wh-what…are you?!"

"I am the Red-Eye Dragon. Didn't Sean tell you about me?"

"Eh??"

The dragon let out a strange dragon sound, which Ben later learned was a chuckle. "Calm down, Ben. I don't bite." He laughed at his own joke. "Seriously, though. You have nothing to fear."

"Really?"

"Honestly. I'm on your side."

There was a long silence between the two of them.

"You…you're the dragon who gave me those powers?" Ben finally asked.

"I am."

"Oh…wow…I…"

"Didn't expect something like this?"

"No, not really."

"Understandable." The dragon said, nodding. "My body is dead, but my spirit lives on, therefore it has a consciousness to it. While my mind can wander, I am mostly confined to this place."

"Where is this place?" Ben finally asked. "And…why aren't I getting burned by the fire?"

"You are in my realm. Well…sort of. Your body is still sleeping, or, more in a trance, really. I was able to bring your mind to this place. Your mind is inside the Dragoon Spirit."

"…"

"Confusing, I'm sure, but this is our best means of communication. I waited until you were asleep so it wouldn't look odd when your mindless body went into a trance."

"So…my mind is in the Dragoon Spirit, which is why I'm able to see you, and my body is still sleeping in a trance-like state?"

"Yes. You catch on quickly."

"Yay. And the fire?"

"Oh, yeah. It only burns who I want it to burn."

"????"

The dragon sighed. "Never mind. You'll understand later."

"Is there any special reason why you brought me here?"

"Just proving my existence for one." The dragon replied. "And verifying Sean's words."

"So, everything he said was true?"

"Yes, it was. You're not the first human I've had to convince. I've had two other spirit bearers, but they were both long ago, and one had everything explained to him by another human, lightening my load, so, it's been a while, and please forgive me if I don't make sense."

"Nothing does anymore."

"Exactly, so keep an open mind. I have not felt a spirit like yours in 800 years."

"You felt my spirit?"

"Unfortunately, that's been the limits of my powers lately, until today. You see, the less I use them, the weaker they become. Once my power is awakened again, I'm back in action. Yesterday, I could not speak to you like this. Anyway, when someone holds my spirit, I can feel their presence; I can feel their soul. I can search through it and discover who they are. Throughout the centuries, I've felt many spirits, but yours is unique."

"Why so?"

The dragon hesitated. "You wouldn't understand if I told you."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't fully understand it myself. You have something in you, something that Dart had."

"Dart?"

"My last bearer; a good man, a good fighter, and a good friend. There's something about you that reminds me of him. I can't quite pinpoint it, but I know it's a good thing. So many people would abuse my powers, but you would not, I can feel it."

"Okay." Ben said, still a bit confused.

"In any case, I wanted you to bear my powers. I've grown to like humans and will try to protect them. Unfortunately, my body is gone, so I cannot do it myself. The only way I can do anything to help is by entrusting my powers in a human. Conversely, the only way humans can really do anything to save their race is to use our powers. So, it's a symbiotic relationship, really. I'm going to need you, and you're going to need me."

"But what if I don't want to do this? What if I don't want to be a Dragoon and save the world?"

"Then the human race is doomed."

"Just because I wouldn't join?"

"All Dragoons must come together now. There are times when single Dragoons can defeat the enemy, but this is different. I now feel what Sean was talking about. I don't know what it is, but it's incredibly powerful. It will take all of our strengths combined to defeat him."

"All the Dragoons powers can beat it?"

"It's not only a matter of powers, Ben. Each dragon has different interests in different humans. Every time we get them all together, everyone's spirit bearer has something that none of the others do. Combined powers will be a big factor, yes, but combined skills and combined abilities will be too."

"Like you said, with the symbiosis thing. We all need each other, the strengths of the humans combined with the strengths of the dragons. Without one group, we all will fall?"

The dragon made a strange expression, Ben thought it was a dragon smile.

"This is what I love about humans."

"But…how can I do this? I mean, what if I screw up completely?"

The smile faded into a troubled look, which Ben thought was a frown.

"This is what I hate about humans. Look, just follow Sean's instructions, as well as mine, and you'll do fine. Sean is a grand fighter and he can teach you a lot about your blade, as well as other weapons."

"How do you know?"

"The Divine Dragon and I talked for a bit, telling each other of our spirit bearers. You can learn a lot from Sean. But, then again, he has a lot to learn from you."

"What could I possibly teach him?"

"It's not for me to say. You'll learn in time."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"We dragons tell each other things about our bearers so we can strategize, not to gossip. It's a personal thing to Sean. You'll learn soon enough. Trust me. He's going to need your help, as well as help from everyone else."

Ben scratched the back of his head, taking all of this in. "Why me?" He finally asked.

"I told you. You have something no one else I've seen has."

"Well, why did I have to have that special something?"

"Nobody knows why we have what we have, or why we can do what we can do. All we can do is use what we have and what we can do to make our lives worthwhile, because nobody else can do it for us."

It made perfect sense. "So, I have to do this?"

"You don't _have_ to do anything, Ben. It's your choice, and yours alone."

"I hate those situations."

"Get used to it. You may have to do it some time in the future, and then, it may be the choice that ends or continues someone's life."

"That why I don't want to do this. What if it does come down to that? I don't want someone's life in my hands."

"Why not?"

"Because…" He hesitated at the thought. "Because I don't want to…to fail."

"You're going to fail, Ben, one way or another. Nobody is perfect. However, there are certain things you can succeed at. Choice is almost always one of them. You'll make the right choice."

"How will I know what the right choice is?"

"You'll know."

"I…I don't think I can trust myself that much."

"I'm the Red-Eye Dragon, Ben. I am the ruler of fire. I could destroy cities, had I my body. And yet, I'm giving you my powers. You know what that means? It means I trust you with them. Now, you must trust yourself to know what to do when the time calls for it."

Ben looked down.

"It'll be a rough ride, Ben, I can tell you that much. It will involve a lot of pain, but a lot of good will come from it as well. They're going to need you, Ben…and so will I."

There was a long silence. "A lot can go wrong." Ben finally noted. "So many things can happen. But…maybe…if I'm there…I can stop them."

"That's the spirit."

"Alright. I'll do it, just because I hope I can do some good, and I like my species."

"I like it too. Humans can be very weak, but when they put their minds to it, and unite, they can become a force that the mightiest foe could not hope to destroy."


	4. The Recruit

Chapter Four: The Recruit

An instant later, Ben awoke. It was morning, and he was back in his room. Ben looked down at the Dragoon Spirit still on its chain around his neck, which he'd forgotten to take off. Had it been real?

_How many times must I tell you that it was not a dream?_

Ben spun his head around. He recognized the voice as the dragon's, but where was he?

_Don't say anything, it will seem abnormal. I can speak to your mind now, from my spirit. Our encounter was real, my friend, and we will be speaking more. Go on, now. Get on with your life, but remember what we spoke of. You have a purpose in all this, which we shall see soon enough, I am sure._

Ben sat in his bed, not knowing what to do now. Well, he said to get on with his life, so he did. He got up, showered, changed, and everything he usually did. But before he'd even got to breakfast, which he hated missing, there came a knock at the door. Ben opened the door and Robert stood on the porch.

"Hey." Robert said.

"Hey." Ben replied. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I had a dream." Robert said. "Well…he said it wasn't a dream, but I don't know."

"Who did?"

Robert pointed to his Dragoon Spirit. "The dragon."

"You spoke to him?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but-"

"No, it doesn't. I spoke to mine too."

"Really?"

"Yeah! He spoke to me for a while and…convinced me to join Sean."

"Mine too. I think we should talk to him about it."

"Ditto. But first, I want to eat. Come on in."

After eating, the boys walked the short distance to Sean's house and knocked. He answered as if he'd been expecting them.

"Talk to your dragons?"

"Y-yeah, how did you know?" Ben asked.

"Come with me" Sean told his dad he was leaving and headed out with his companions.

"I hate coming to this place." Robert said, looking at the slashes on his legs from where he'd hit a thorn bush.

"You'll get used to it." Sean responded. They were in the clearing again. Ben and Robert had hidden their weapons in the woods when they left the day before, so they picked them up again when they came back. "So, what did your dragons tell you?"

Ben and Robert basically went through the same story. The dragons pulled their minds into the Dragoon Spirits to speak with them and told them how much they were needed, and how they'd been convinced to join the fight.

However, they both left out the same detail: they did not tell Sean about what their dragons had said about him. After all, it was personal, so they should really butt out.

"So," Sean concluded. "You're both in?"

The two friends looked at one another one more time, each trying to save this last moment of normality. It had actually been torn from them the instant the virage attacked, but now, they were going to sign their selves into what could turn out to be a terrible war with unseen forces of unthinkable powers. However, it could also be a phenomenon, the grandest adventure of their lifetimes. Besides, they would be in it together. Robert and Ben had their disagreements, of course, but when it came down to it, they would protect one another. Maybe that could be used as an advantage.

The boys looked back at Sean and took deep breaths.

"I'm in." Ben said.

"So am I."

Sean smiled for the first time they'd seen. "Good."

"So…now what?" Ben wondered.

"Let me tell you a story." Sean offered. He went into the whole ordeal behind the Dragoon Spirits.

The need for them began approximately 11,800 years ago, give or take some years. Humans were enslaved by the winglies, humanoid creatures with silver hair and wings of silver light that could be activated or deactivated at will. Their best feature was the magical powers that they possessed. That is why the humans were so easily enslaved. There were humans who revolted, however. They formed their own armies and fought with the winglies. It was a sort of one-sided standoff, meaning nothing was happening, but if winglies struck hard enough in the right places, they would win.

Exactly how the first Dragoon came about is uncertain, being lost in time, but somehow, a human had convinced a dragon to fight with the rebels. More humans were able to do the same, ending in a total of seven Dragoons, one of each element (fire, water, wind, earth, light, darkness, and thunder). Not only this, but weaker dragons followed the larger ones, fighting while still in life. The Dragoons and dragons shifted the war in favor of the humans. However, the winglies wouldn't let it go so easily.

The wingly leader, Melbu Frahma, manipulated a horrid species into fighting with them: the virages. The dragons were stronger, but the virages came in greater numbers. Not only this, but Melbu Frahma also created two weapons for killing dragons: the Dragon Buster and the Dragon Block Staff. The staff greatly weakened Dragoons and dragons, making them more vulnerable to attack. The Dragon Buster was a sword of fire, specifically made for killing dragons. It could cut through a dragon's scales like butter, and, since their armor was made of dragon scales, the Dragoons were no safer. Many dragons died, but the Dragoons prevailed, barely. Only one dragon was left alive.

Things looked grim, but the humans got some unexpected help from the winglies. Apparently, there were winglies who favored humans. They were led by Melbu Frahma's sister, Charle Frahma. She stole Melbu's Dragon Block staff, giving the Dragoons a better chance.

The Dragoons knew that they only needed to do one thing to end the war: kill the dictator. While human armies pulled the winglies away, the Dragoons attacked Melbu in his floating palace. However, he was waiting for them. Virages surrounded his palace. The lone dragon fought them off so the Dragoons could get inside, but a more horrendous creature lurked within. Melbu had somehow created a more powerful sub-species of the virages: the Super-Virage. It alone killed three of the dragoons before falling. Other elements killed two more, leaving the fire and dark Dragoons to fight. They got Melbu into a corner and killed him, but the fire dragoon, Zieg, was turned into stone by Melbu's last-resort spell. Rose, the Dark Dragoon, was left alone.

But Melbu wasn't dead. He just transcended his soul into Zieg's Dragoon Spirit. 11,000 years later, the spell wore off and Zieg awoke, forced to live a new life. One night, a monster attacked his home and he tried using the spirit to fight, but instead, Melbu was released and took over Zieg's body. He disposed of the spirit and went to pursue a new goal.

Legend told of a Divine Tree that gave birth to all species through its 108 fruits. 107 were born, but the last was yet to come. The last species was the Virage Embryo: The God of Destruction. Its purpose was to "cleanse" the world by destroying everything that lived in it. The winglies had stopped its birth by separating spirit and body. The body was now a giant moon held up in the sky, unmoving: The Moon That Never Sets. The spirit was transfigured into a Crystal Sphere, which Melbu used to extract great power, which got him the role of dictator. When he was defeated, the humans destroyed the sphere so no one else could use it, but they accidentally released the spirit of the Virage Embryo! It wandered around now, taking human hosts every 108 years. If it got back to its body, the world would end.

The Dark Dragoon, Rose, found out about it. Charle Frahma gave Rose a necklace to make her live forever, so she could stop the spirit, which was later to be called the Moon Child. Somehow, rumor got around that the Moon Child was a blessing there to save them. Rose was given another name: The Black Monster, because she killed the Moon Child.

Now, for the Moon Child to reunite spirit with body, it would have to break the signets the winglies created to hold the moon in the sky. Once broken, the moon would set on earth, giving the spirit access to it. Now, the odds of the spirit's vessel, a human, to find out about this were very unlikely because the Moon Child had no idea it was even possessed. Even so, there was a slight risk that Rose could not take. She killed the Moon Child and everyone around who saw her. They called her a demon.

Then, 11,000 years after Melbu's defeat, Rose missed. Apparently, the human Rose killed wasn't the Moon Child, but her twin sister! The Moon Child grew up to be-of all things-a Dragoon, for a time. The Spirit abandoned her later and Melbu, in Zieg's body, kidnapped her, destroyed the seals and attempted to give birth to the Virage Embryo. However, once the cycle started, Melbu freed himself from Zieg's body and put himself in the Moon Child's place and accomplishing his goal: becoming the Virage Embryo.

Of course, some resisted him. The Dragoon had risen again with new humans and fought once more. This time, there were eight. Another spirit was found: the spirit of the Divine Dragon. It too was used, in place of Zieg, the Fire Dragoon, who could not fight due to injuries. Melbu was once again defeated, but wouldn't die easily. It cost the lives of Zieg and Rose to finally destroy him. The other Dragoons mourned for their friends and went down into history.

But after 800 years, history was no more than a legend. Nobody remembered the valiant deeds of the Dragoons.

"Because of this," Sean continued, "And that their powers were no longer needed, but dragons began to drift into deep slumber, only awakening to inspect those who hold their spirits, to see if they are compatible. Even so, they continued to sleep even after they found you guys."

"What about you?" Ben finally asked. "How come you're so different?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your dragon didn't keep on resting. You became a fully-fledged Dragoon. Why?"

They both sensed a brief hesitation before saying, "I used my powers, so my dragon kept awake."

"Oh." That was all they could think to say.

"So what do we do?" Robert "Is there some specific evil we have to face?"

"Not yet." Sean said. "Not that we know of. All we have is a virage."

"You said winglies manipulated virages?" Ben asked.

"Yeah."

"Maybe it's a wingly."

"That's one of my theories. However, it may just be that the virage sniffed out its natural enemy and tried to overcome it-to no avail, might I add. Who knows? We may yet discover the reason. Anyhow, there is one thing we have to do."

"What?" The boys asked.

"We have to find the other five Dragoons. We already know of two: Melissa and…who again?"

"Christie." Ben said.

"Right. Do either of you happen to see them on a daily basis?" They both shook their heads. "Do you know them?"

"Well," Ben said. "We know Melissa, but we're not friends with her or anything, probably because of Robert here. But Christie I'm kinda close to, I guess. I talk to her a good bit."

"Do you know where either of them lives?" Another no. "Do you know where they might be?"

-

"The mall." Sean sighed.

"It's where girls go!" Ben said in his defense. They'd gone there in hopes of finding the Dragoons, but Sean was doubtful.

"I can't believe this." Sean grumbled.

"Hey, lots of people gather here all the time, so it's our best shot until school starts, right? And I don't think you want to wait two more months. How about we split up?"

"Good idea." Robert said. "Ben, you look in and around JCPenny's, Sean, you try Famous Barr. I'll scope out Victoria's Secret."

"Okay-what!" Ben suddenly realized what Robert had said, but he was gone before Ben could protest.

"Meet in the food court in an hour or so!" Sean called to him. Robert gave him a thumbs-up, and they all started looking.

-

Ben had no idea what to do. If either girl were in the mall, they'd probably be in places Ben would never hope to go to. He just kind of treaded along the borderlines of the mens and women's sections, glancing about nervously. If he ran into one of them, what would he say?

He began going over possible dialogues, trying to fit in some way to tell about her Dragoon Spirit. He shook his head. Who was he kidding? He couldn't possibly explain it in a short time, especially somewhere like this, with everyone around.

Another thought began roaming through his head. What if it _did_ work? What if, somehow, he was able to explain and she joined their cause, becoming a Dragoon (or was it Dragooness)? Ben remembered his own troubles, seeing as they were only yesterday, of finding out that he was not like the other humans, allowed…no, privileged to live a normal life. He, on the other hand, was forced to abandon such a life and take on the most dangerous occupation ever imagined.

But then, he had to remind himself that he wasn't forced. He had the choice and he chose to fight, so it was his own fault. But now, could he force someone else to make such a choice? He didn't want to. It just felt wrong. He could be pulling someone into a place where they would just be killed. And…what if it were Christie? What if she…?

Ben shook his head, not wanting to think about it. He didn't like the thought of Christie dying. He couldn't bear it. She was…Christie was…an angel. She was the most beautiful person Ben had ever met in his short life. But Ben, of course, wasn't shallow enough to only judge by looks. He'd admired her from afar for a while and was just now becoming friends with her, and he loved it. She was a great person to be with. Ben couldn't quite tell, but something set her apart from the other girls, a sort of…purity, a kind of innocence that radiated around her.

Ben had gone off into his own world, dreaming about her, and didn't exactly pay attention to where he was going until he ran smack-dab into a column.

"OW!" He said, rubbing his forehead. He stumbled around for a second, again not sure where he was going until he hit the wall with his shoulder.

"You hit your head?" A voice asked.

Ben looked up and saw a girl near him, leaning against the wall. She was a bit shorter than Ben was, and her frame was rather petite, but Ben knew better than to judge her by that. She was Brittany Frost, a classmate of his, though he hardly knew her. She may not have had any real, physical strength, but she didn't let anyone else know it. She was very outspoken, quick to say anything and everything on her mind. She was a little bit much to handle at times, but she had a good heart.

"Ah, yeah." Ben answered.

She brushed the brown hair out of her eyes. Most of it was held back in a rather large ponytail, but a few strands hung down over her blue eyes.

"I sure hope so." Brittany said with a smile. Ben looked around.

"Wow. I am REALLY in the wrong section."

Brittany nodded. "Indeed, you are, Ben, unless you're looking for a sexy bikini look for the beach."

Ben scratched his head in embarrassment. Brittany laughed and shifted her weight, then moved again.

"Ack! This stupid thing!"

"What stupid thing?"

She reached into her pocket. "It's something I found in the water about five years ago. I just kinda stuck with me." She pulled it out and Ben's eyes widened. It was a blue Dragoon Spirit!

Ben's spirit instantly reacted, shining its red light, while Brittany's glowed a bright blue. They both covered their eyes, then quickly coved up the light. Once the spirits died down, they looked at each other.

"It's never shone like _that_ before!" Brittany said.

"I can't believe this!" Ben said.

"Uh…well, it's kind of a long story. Hey, speaking of which, you're friends with Christie, right?"

"Yeah."

"You seen her around?"

Brittany pointed to the dressing room door she was standing next too. "She's in there."

"Oh." Ben said. "Alright. When she gets out, I gotta talk to you both."

"About what?"

"Oh…you'll see."

"Hey, Brit!" A familiar voice called from within the dressing room. Ben knew it to be Christie's.

"Yeah?" Brittany answered.

"You were right. It fits like a glove…I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, though."

"Huh?" Ben wondered aloud.

"Bikini." Brittany explained.

"Oh?" Ben said, his eyes widening.

"She said there was no way she'd fit into something that small, but I insisted her trying it." Suddenly, a coy smile slid across her face. "Hey!" She called to Christie. "C'mon out here and let me see!"

"What!" Christie exclaimed. "No way!"

"Why not?"

"There's no way I'm going to be seen in this!"

"Aw, c'mon!"

"I feel so…I don't even know what word to put with this feeling!"

"C'mon!" Brittany encouraged. "I'm sure you look great!"

"It's just not me."

"Then let me have a look, because I'm not ever going to see it again, right?"

There was a silence. "Alright," Christie finally succumbed. "But promise you won't laugh."

"Promise."

"…or hoot, whistle, or say anything obscene!"

"…fine, whatever." Brittany sighed, defeated. "Now, come on out!"

Ben had a sudden dilemma. Should he be a gentleman and not look, or tell her he was there, or should he be human and watch?

"Just give me a second to gather up some confidence, okay?" Christie pleaded. "I feel like I'm not wearing anything at all!"

The gentleman attitude was tossed out the window as Ben's testosterone level skyrocketed. He took a few steps back, to make it look like he was just walking in on the scene and Brittany nodded, understanding.

Finally, the doorknob twisted and the door eased open a crack. Finally, she just flung the door open. Ben's eyes shot wide open. She was right. The bikini was VERY skimpy and left little to the imagination. Obviously, this was Brittany's idea.

I don't want to give the wrong impression of Brittany. She wasn't a total slut or anything, but when it came to who showed the most skin, it was Brittany, hands down. Christie always tried to keep some decency. Ben couldn't believe he was actually seeing her like this. And Christie was equally surprised to see him.

"BEN!" She exclaimed. She tried covering herself, but it was futile. Ben's eyes were locked for a moment. Then, his gentlemanly instincts kicked in again and he looked away.

"S-sorry. I…I was, uh…I just…"

"Ah, c'mon, Ben." Brittany said. "Take a gander." She tried moving Christie's arm.

"NO!" Christie exclaimed, hitting Brittany. She finally dove back into the dressing room and slammed the door. Ben turned back around, face red. "What are you doing here!" Christie called to him.

"Well…I was looking for you, and…I found you." Then, he whispered. "A lot of you."

"Looking for me?" Christie asked. "What for?"

"It's a long story. Are you two doing anything important?"

"Not really."

"Then why don't you guys come with me. There's someone you should meet. It's…kind of important."

"Uh…sure, just let me finish changing."

Brittany walked over to Ben with a grin. "So, you like what you saw?"

Ben bit his tongue. Oh, the things he could say.

Within seconds, Christie opened the door again, her face as red as ever with an embarrassed little smile.

While Brittany could be described as hot, Christie was better described as beautiful. She had an average frame and she was about as tall as Brittany. She was fantastic in Ben's mind. Her fairly short light brown hair hung over a little in the front, just over her dazzling cerulean eyes. Something about the way she smiled portrayed the innocence in her. Her perfectly rounded body was covered up fully now, which Ben didn't mind at all. He liked it this way, actually. It seemed right. The decency suited her. That was one of the things Ben liked about her the most. She didn't try to show her body off to impress guys. She just did her own thing.

"Well…That was interesting." She said.

"Yeah…" that was all Ben could say.

"Just say it, Ben." Brittany said. "You thought she looked freakin' hot and had it been anyone else, they'd have been all over her, but you didn't cuz you're a gentleman, okay? Can we go now!"

Ben and Christie were equally embarrassed by this. As said before, Brittany was very outspoken.

"Yeah." Christie said. "I think I'll just stick with this one." She held up a much less revealing swimsuit. She put the other one back as Brittany rolled her eyes.

"I was trying to find a hot new look for her," Brittany said to Ben, "but she denies all my suggestions and sticks to her own thing."

"That can be a good thing. She's not swayed by peer pressure."

"Don't act like you didn't like it."

Ben bit his lower lip as Christie purchased the swimsuit.

_So,_ the Red-Eye Dragon said, _this is the girl you spoke of?_

Ben just made a discrete nod.

_Wow._ He said. _I'm not one for humans, but as far as your race goes, she looks fantastic!_

Ben couldn't believe what he was hearing. His dragon companion was saying that his human crush was hot.

"So," Christie said, "You said something about our necklaces?"

"Yeah, do you have yours?"

"Right here." She pulled it out of her pocket. All three Dragoon Spirits shimmered brightly. They shielded their eyes until the light went out.

"Yeesh." Christie said.

"I know." Brittany concurred.

"It gets old." Ben said. "Come with me."

-

Sean looked at his watch. Only twenty minutes had passed. He'd been just kind of wandering around Famous Barr, trying to blend in, but who was he kidding? He never went to malls, so how was he supposed to know how to act? And who knew if Melissa was even in here? Where else did girls go?

He rubbed his forehead and got out of the store, sick of it already. He looked around, keeping a sharp eye on every store and every floor, but he could see no one. He sighed and looked down at the bottom floor, then shot a double-take. A girl with long, black hair. Was it her?

_Yes!_ The Divine Dragon said. _Yes, that is her! I can sense her Dragoon Spirit! Go! Catch her!_

Sean couldn't believe the luck as he searched frantically for stairs. He saw her heading for the exit. He looked over. The escalator was broken! Just his luck! He ran for the stairs not too far away and took them several at a time. He jumped the entire last flight and took off again.

No! Where was she! Maybe she'd already gone out. Sean trotted out and looked right. Nothing. Then, he looked left. Yes! She was a good distance away, just turning the corner. He started running again and rounded the corner. Then, he saw trouble. There were about six unpleasant looking guys, just sitting or standing by the building.

Melissa walked right by them and a few turned their heads. Those who didn't were informed by their buddies of the "junk in her trunk". They all got a good look. Sean heard whistles and a few obscene phrases. Those who were sitting got up and the gang walked after her.

_Could be trouble._ The Divine Dragon said.

"Yeah." Sean whispered. "Let's follow." He walked at the same pace the gangsters did, staying just a few feet behind them. They drew in closer to Melissa. Sean wondered if she knew she was being stalked.

They kept inching closer, following whatever route she took, and she did take many turns. The guys were snickering at their thoughts. Sean began to get disgusted by them.

Suddenly, when they were probably a foot from her, Melissa suddenly whipped around, almost smacking the lead gangster with her hair.

"Can I help you creeps?" She asked, trying to keep composure.

"Woo. Feisty!" One guy said and the others laughed. Melissa just glared. She hadn't yet noticed Sean, who was watching and waiting, ready to strike and any moment.

"If you guys have no business with me," Melissa continued, her face still solid, "then I suggest you leave."

Sean stared at her. That attitude. He recognized it. And that face, it was so solid, so bold. Where had he seen such a glare before, and where had he seen those eyes? He racked his mind, trying to search.

"Oh, we have business, alright." The lead thug said. "So why don't you just bring your pretty self over here and we'll get this over with, seeing as you want to leave so badly."

"Not interested." Melissa responded.

He laughed. "I don't think you understand. That wasn't a request." He reached for her and Sean started, but he was stopped by what happened next.

Melissa grabbed the man's right wrist with her left hand and spun inward, closer to him, and jammed her elbow into his gut. He lurched forward and she brought her fist straight up, striking his jaw. With this momentum, she leaned back and raised her foot, then gave a flat-footed kick to the thug's gut, knocking him onto his back.

Sean's eyebrows perked. He hadn't expected that. Nor had the gangsters. They stood, looking at their fallen member, then back at her.

"Anyone else?" Melissa asked with a small smile. The gangsters looked at each other, and then the closest one stepped forward, making the same mistake that his buddy did: he tried to grab her.

Once more, she grabbed the gangster's arm and spun in, elbowing his stomach. But, then, another gangster came around the side. Melissa swung her foot up high and bashed his face, then punched the first gangster again and kicked him into the one behind him. The one she'd kicked, who now had a broken nose, lunged at her, full charge. Melissa simply sidestepped and stuck her foot out to trip him. The other two gangsters came at once and each grabbed an arm. Melissa used that to push herself up and flip backward, slipping from their grasp. One swung at her and she ducked, then got his jaw with an uppercut, then a quick kick, knocking him back.

Two were down for good, but four were still kicking. Sean rubbed his jaw.

"She's good."

_Quite good._ The Divine Dragon agreed.

This time, Melissa took on the offensive, swinging a lightning-quick kick to the guy's ribs and when he lurched forward, she kicked his face. Then, she kicked off the wall and kicked him in the head. Another gangster charged too hastily and got bashed in the face with Melissa's elbow, then kicked down.

Two were left; each more determined to win their prize. Sean looked down at one of the gangsters on the ground, who was dumb enough to try and get back up. Sean quickly punched him and the guy was down.

The remaining gangsters charged at Melissa from either end. Melissa ducked under one guy's grasp and knocked away the other's hands. She leaned back on her hands and kicked one guy in the face. While he stumbled back, Melissa stood, and the other gangster grabbed her from behind. Melissa's foot flew up and bashed the guy's nose, stunning him long enough to let her go. Melissa turned around and jumped up, kicking off the guy's chest to knock him to the ground.

The momentum of the kick was enough to let Melissa flip back in the air and land on her feet. She turned around and her face met the butt of a knife handle. The impact of the blow knocked her to the ground. The gangster knelt down quickly and grabbed her by the throat.

"You little-"

But then, a strong grip grabbed his wrist. He turned and found himself eye-to-eye with Sean.

"Now," Sean said. "If you were smart, you wouldn't finish that sentence."

With that, Melissa swung her foot up, kicking the man in the groin. Sean finished the job by ramming his elbow into his back, knocking him to the ground.

"You alright?" Sean asked Melissa.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She rubbed her sore jaw.

"Here." Sean offered his hand to help her up, but she refused.

"I said I'm alright." She stood herself up perfectly. Once she was on her feet, her Dragoon Spirit recognized Sean's and both of them glowed brightly. When it stopped, Sean was sick of the routine.

"Man, I wish I knew why it did that." Melissa grumbled.

"I believe I can answer why."

"Oh, yeah? Then how?"

"It's a long story. Why don't you come with me and I'll tell you."

Melissa looked him over. "You're the new guy in town, aren't you?"

"I am. Sean McMann."

"Melissa O'Riley. Nice to formally meet you."

"Likewise." They turned and started walking back towards the entrance to the mall. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"I learned it from my brother. He lives a pretty rough life and kind of taught himself how to survive. He started teaching me a few years ago."

"I'd like to meet him."

Melissa snorted. "Good luck. I hardly get to see him anymore."

"What do you mean?"

Melissa became suddenly silent, a sign she didn't want to talk about it.

"Well," Sean said, "I can tell you that those skills are going to become critical quite soon."

-

Ben, Christie, and Brittany walked together in the food court. Christie and Brittany were curious as to what Ben had up his sleeve, but it didn't show much, seeing as they were too distracted. Brittany wouldn't let the incident go and Christie was hopelessly embarrassed. Ben had nothing to say to make the situation better, so he just kept quiet.

The smell of Cinnabons became more intense as they rounded the corner to the large food court. Ben saw Robert sitting with his legs up on a table and walked over to him.

"Hey!" Robert said. "You found her!"

"Yeah." Ben said. "And another." Robert spirit started to glow at the newcomers and he quickly covered the light. "And how was your trip through the women's lingerie?"

"Entertaining, yet unsuccessful. I'm gonna grab a Cinnabon." He got up and left.

On his way up, he spotted Sean talking with someone-Melissa!

"Oh, God." Melissa muttered as they neared him.

"Don't worry about him." Sean told her.

"So, you, too were successful?" Robert said to Sean.

"Yeah. You found Christie?"

"Nah, Ben did, and some other hot chick. I think she's in our school."

"Another Dragoon?"

"Yeah."

"Another _what_?" Melissa had to ask.

"I'll explain soon enough." Sean promised.

"I'm getting some food, see you guys in a minute." Robert continued his journey to one of the finest eateries in the mall. He was first in line, and started considering what to order. Just then, another teen walked over and looked at the display case next to Robert, contemplating buying anything, for his money was scarce. Quite suddenly, to both of the boys' surprise, two lights shimmered out of nowhere, one green and one violet.

Robert covered his Dragoon Spirit quickly, but the other boy was too late and had to ride out the effects of the glowing.

"What in the world was that!" The cashier exclaimed.

"Ah, just some stupid glowing thing." Robert said. He gave him the money. "Just give me two Cinnabons, okay?"

The man took the money and shook his head, confused.

"Heya." Robert said to the other teen, who was still rubbing his eyes from the glowing. He was a bit shorter than Robert, which wasn't surprising, seeing as about everyone was. He had a medium build, though not muscular at all. He had a smooth complexion and thin, blonde hair that went a little over his eyes in the front and to the bottom of his neck in the back.

"Hi." He responded.

"You look familiar."

"I think we're in the same school."

"Yeah! That's it! What's your name?"

"Brad Sparks. Yours?"

"Robert Williams." He gripped his Dragoon Spirit. "These things are pretty crazy, eh?"

Brad laughed. "Yeah, you said it. I'd give a million dollars to the guy who can tell me why they glow."

"Well, then," Robert said, "Pay up."

Everyone at the tables they'd pulled together was getting to know each other, when Robert came back over.

"Okay," He said. "Before I introduce yet another person to the group, everybody please cover your Dragoon Spirits."

"Our _what_!" More than one person asked.

"Your necklaces. Just do it, okay?" They all did. Sean knew why, and he had to smile. This was turning out to be a fabulous day.

Robert turned around and motioned for someone to come forward. Brad was also covering his Dragoon Spirit. Once he got within range, the Dragoon Spirits all glowed, but were covered by their bearers' hands.

"Everyone," Robert said, "this is Brad Sparks. Brad, here we got Ben Freeman, Melissa O'Riley, Christie Seedly, uh…"

"Brittany Frost." She offered.

"Yeah, sure, and, the only one who fully knows what's going on around here, Sean McMann."

Sean nodded to him.

"Hey." Brad said to everyone as he took a seat. They all looked at each other.

"Seven Dragoons." Sean said, admiringly. "We found four today."

"Hey," Brittany said. "You guys keep using this term, 'Dragoon'. What is a Dragoon!"

Sean leaned back in his chair. "That, my friends, is the word that will change your lives."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, Archangel here. I got stupid and erased the whole story. Spike saved my tail cuz he had a copy. Sorry bout that….anywho, We've found nearly all the Dragoons, but what of the last one, and what will these new recruits think? Find out soon! Please review! More reviews there are, the faster we get the chapters up! Motivation!


	5. Training Camp

Chapter Five: Training Camp

Sean led his group of seven out of the mall and far from the city. Everyone kept asking questions, but they received no answers yet. They, like Ben and Robert, were led past the suburbs to the outer edges of town and into the woods.

"Exactly where are we going?" Brittany asked for the millionth time.

"We're almost there." Sean replied.

"Almost _where_! We're in the middle of nowhere!"

"That's the whole point." Robert said.

"Huh!"

"You'll see, trust me."

"Robert," Melissa said. "I trust you as far as I can throw you."

"Okay, we're here." Sean said, glad to finally be there.

"Where?" Brittany asked. "We're in the-"

"-middle of nowhere." Robert finished. "You said that already."

"Believe it or not," Sean continued, "this clearing is the place."

They all looked around.

"It's…big." Melissa said.

"It's…nice." Christie said.

"It's…I've got nothing." Brad said. "Why are we here?"

Sean gave a small grin. "Ben? Rob? Get your weapons." Ben and Robert went into the woods just a little ways and came back with their gear, as well as Sean's blade.

"Whoa." More than one person said. Sean took his blade and looked around the group.

"Who's first?"

Everyone looked at each other.

"Did you bring us out her to kill us?" Brittany had to ask.

"Nah. Quite the opposite, really. I want to show you a new life. So, who's first?"

There was a long silence as everyone looked at each other, their eyes daring one another to step forward.

"Alright, alright." Melissa said. "I'll go."

"How did I know?" Sean asked.

"If you try to hurt me, I'll break your neck."

"I doubt it, but don't worry." He held up his sword and brought it down until it was pointing at Melissa's Dragoon Spirit. "Awaken…spirit of the Dark Dragoon."

Instantly, Melissa's spirit glowed like never before. It was a dark blue hue filling the area. Suddenly, the dragon launched its powers into Melissa.

"AH!" She shouted, clutching her chest. But the pain traveled through her body, covering every limb, straining her until it burst. A dark bubble surrounded her, clouding her from their sight. Then, it all came together and suddenly exploded in a dark wave, shrouding everything around in darkness for a few seconds. When they could fully see again, Melissa wasn't herself.

Her armor was much like the guys' armor was, except that it was all a very dark blue, almost black color, and the armor around her waist was had a more prominent curve to it, outlining her hips.

Melissa was frozen in place. Finally, she looked down at herself.

"What…what…what…what…what…what…h-h-h-h-h-h-happened!"

"Good question!" Brittany exclaimed. Sean looked at the shocked faces of all who were unfamiliar with the transformation.

"I have just awakened the spirit of Melissa's dragon, the Dark Dragon," Sean said.

"WHAT!" Melissa exclaimed.

"Alright, let me speak to everyone here when I say this. Those necklaces you wear? You want to know why they glow? Here's why: they're alive. Those orbs on your necklaces are the spirits of dragons long deceased."

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm serious!" Sean said.

"Dragons?" Brittany asked.

"That's right. They did exist. However, they're all long gone. However, though their bodies had died, their spirits lived on. Their spirits took the form of small orbs we call Dragoon Spirits. That's what those orbs are, the remains of a dragon."

"Uh…whatever," Melissa said. "But what does that have to do with what happened to me?"

"It's simple, really. A dragon's spirit is useless by itself. It needs a vessel to act through. They started placing their trust in humans and would grant them their powers."

"Powers?"

"Yep. Certain humans are able to harness the power the dragon had. For example, Melissa, you are able to use all the dark abilities the Dark Dragon had, for that is the spirit you carry. And the armor? It's as hard as the dragon's skin was. So, basically, you're a human dragon. Make sense?"

"Uh…"

Robert spoke up. "The necklaces are spirits of dead dragons who will give you their powers and abilities when you call upon them."

"You're serious!"

"How else do you explain it?" Sean asked.

"That's…that's crazy!"

"Everything is crazy in this life."

"This life?" More than one person asked.

Sean sighed, having to repeat this story. "You think Dragons are going to give their powers to humans for no reason at all? Of course not! They give their powers to someone so they'll use them."

"For what?"

"For war."

"With what?"

"The dark forces that threaten the human race."

Another silence.

"He's telling the truth." Ben said, stepping up. "He already showed all this to me and Rob. He said my dragon was the Red-Eye dragon, dragon of fire, and I was able to use fire abilities. I've done it. It's all true."

"How?" Melissa asked.

"Well," Sean said, "No one really knows how, but it doesn't matter, now does it? What matters is all of you have one thing in common. The dragons chose you to fight for them, for they are unable to do it themselves."

"Chose us?" Brad asked.

"That's right. Humans cannot manipulate dragons. They are the only ones who can choose who bears their powers. They've been sleeping for centuries, but now, they're coming to life again and I am speeding up the process. I am going to prepare you all to face our enemies. If kept unchecked, they will attack the humans. We Dragoons are chosen to stop them."

"How do you know all this?" Christie asked finally.

"Because for several years, I have been living this nightmare. I have been keeping all dark forces at bay for a long time."

"Then why do you need us?" Melissa asked.

"Because something is coming. I don't know what or when, but it's coming. All I know is that I can't handle it alone. I'm going to need all the other Dragoons with me to defeat it. I've been searching for you guys for a long time. You can imagine my surprise to find you all today."

"So, we're all these 'Dragoons'?" Christie asked.

"That's right. You're all warriors. Well, not really. I can teach you all how to fight. If you will all meet with me on a regular basis, I can transform you all into true, fighting Dragoons."

Melissa asked a question. "Does this have anything to do with that monster that attacked the town yesterday?"

"Yes, it does. That was a virage; an ancient monster I thought was extinct. Even so, virages hardly ever attack alone. I believe there's more to it."

"This is all VERY complicated." Brad said, rubbing his head.

"You'll get used to it."

"Used to it? How?"

"Like I said, if you can meet with me on a regular basis, I'll teach you everything."

"Meet on a regular basis?" Melissa asked. "You mean come together all the time so we can fight and train to be an elite army that's supposed to save the world, putting us right in the heat of danger?"

"Yep." Sean replied, unemotionally.

Melissa gave him a dumb look. "And what if we don't want to do this?"

"Yeah!" Brittany chirped in. "What if we don't want to run the risk of being killed?"

"Then you can all sit back and watch your species get destroyed."

The bluntness of Sean's statement disturbed everyone, which is exactly what he wanted. The group looked at each other. Was this really happening to them?

"Why us?" Christie finally asked. Sean shook his head.

"I can't tell you that. You'll have to ask your dragons."

"Ask them?"

"Yeah. They're spirits, so they do have a consciousness. They choose their bearers for their own reasons that only they know."

"Another question," Brittany declared, "How is it that you know so much about these Dragoon Spirits?"

"I, too, am a Dragoon, you know. And, like I said, I've been a Dragoon longer than any of you have, so I have learned much. And I can pass that knowledge on to you all…if you're willing to stand with me. I'm not going to force you into anything; it's your decision. I'm going to ask here and now: who's with me?"

Everyone looked at one another.

"I'll tell you now, the life of a Dragoon is no fun. You're constantly in danger of being killed, you have a terrible responsibility to live up to, and nobody will know you're a hero. That's why you've never heard of any of this before. Nobody can know about the Dragoon Spirits."

"Why not?" Brittany asked.

"Because this world isn't ready for such knowledge. It's better that the humans remain ignorant to our activities. Of course, nobody will know what heroes we'll all be, but it doesn't really matter after a while. As long as you're saving your race, it's alright. So, who's with me? Who's willing to fight for their race?"

There was a silence. Then, to everyone's surprise, Brad stepped up.

"I'm in." Everyone looked at him. "Well," He said, "Why not? I mean, the dragons chose _us_, right? So, if we don't do it, nobody else can, right? And I'm not one to watch the humans die out, so I'll do what I can."

"So will I." Christie put in. "He's right. We're the only ones who can do it."

"Well," Brittany said, "if she's in, then so am I."

Sean turned back to Melissa. "Well?"

She nodded. "Yeah. My butt-kicking skills are going to waste anyway. Why not?"

Sean had to give a small grin. "Wonderful."

Robert and Ben smiled to each other.

"Alright!" Ben said, "So…is this everyone?"

"No." Sean said, "There's still one more Dragoon we need to find. Does anyone here know of any other Dragoons?"

They all just shook their heads.

"Hm. I was fortunate enough to find six in one town. The last one can wait a bit, but everyone keep your eyes open, okay?" They all nodded. "Alright. Now, I have a plan to get us all together for a while…"

Sean's plan was unbelievably clever. Everyone told their parents about a camp that really didn't exist. It had all the greatest stuff and it was really cheap! All the parents agreed and their kids were off.

They all arrived, bringing only a few necessary things with them. The money they'd taken for "camp payment" was for emergency purposes only. It was mid-June, so, for the next two-and-a-half months, they'd be roughing it. Up until now, Sean had been unable to transform Christie, Brittany, and Brad into Dragoons. Melissa, however, had now spoken to her dragon and was dying to learn more. Everyone was, really.

At long last, they all arrived. They were nervous, but they were ready.

"Alright," Brittany said, as she arrived, running over to Sean. "C'mon! C'mon! Make me a Dragoon already! I've been waiting for weeks!"

"Hang on a minute!" Sean said, not used to dealing with such energy. "First, a few ground rules."

"Rules?"

"Yep. Rule number one: I have been a Dragoon longer, and my Dragon is stronger than any of yours. Plus, I know a lot more about everything than you guys do. That being known, you will all follow my lead."

"So, you're in charge by rule of seniority?" Robert interpreted.

"Basically. Any objections?" Nobody did. He was right, after all. "Good. If someone did, I'd have to take the lead by force." Everyone chuckled, not knowing how serious Sean really was.

"So," Christie said, "any other rules, Oh Great Leader?"

"Don't call me that, for one. For another, just as a reminder, nobody can know about what happens here. Third: nobody leaves unless I give them permission to, okay?" Everyone nodded. "Okay. Ben, Rob, and Brad, come with me." He led them to one edge of the woods and spoke to them privately. "Alright, guys, listen. I know this is a co-ed party here, but…" Robert rolled his eyes. "Don't be getting any sick ideas, alright? Out there, in the real world, after our training, you guys can do what you want. However, while you're under my command, you'll watch yourself around the ladies, alright?" The guys nodded, all embarrassed. "I'm serious. They're our companions, our friends. You guys try anything without her consent and I'll break your legs. Understood?"

"So we can't get involved with the girls?" Brad asked.

"Not true. I want you to get to know the girls and all. I'm just saying keep it in your pants, alright? Especially you, Robert."

"So we can flirt?" Robert asked.

Sean gave him a look.

"Well?"

Sean sighed. "I don't know. I'm just want you to treat the women as companions, not entertainment devices, okay?"

"Okay." Everyone said.

"Good." He turned back. "Melissa, Christie, Brittany, front and center." They walked up to each other and Sean crossed his arms.

"What we you talking to them about?" Brittany had to know.

"I was just laying down the gentleman's rules. If any of them gives you trouble, you tell me, okay?"

They all chuckled, embarrassed, but gave their okays.

"Cool. But this rule applies for you too, okay?"

"Alright," Brittany said, "but we can still hang out with them and all, right?"

"Right. In fact, I encourage it, but to a limit, if you catch my drift."

"Good, cuz that Brad kid is really cute."

"Ah," Sean said, rubbing the back of his neck. "There's another thing I should warn you about. If you want to, like, get into a relationship with any of the guys, or any guy for that matter, I won't stop you. However, I do want you to remember one thing: you all live a dangerous life. You all nod your heads now, but you have no idea how dangerous it can actually be. All I'm saying is it might not be the best idea to get involved with a Dragoon, because you never know how long they'll be around."

There was a silence. The girls looked troubled.

"The way you say that sounds so foreboding." Christie said.

"Afraid?"

"A little."

"Let that fear help you. Use it. Fight to protect your friends, as well as your species."

"Then I'll try extra hard to make sure Brad doesn't get killed." Brittany said with a nod.

Sean opened his mouth, and then closed it again, seeming confused. He scratched his head again.

"Hm. I don't know whether to encourage or discourage that. I mean, it's good you want to protect someone, but you shouldn't pick favorites. Well…whatever. Just, uh, be careful."

They all nodded and Sean turned to the whole group again. "That should about do it! Now, the first order of business: Christie, Brad, and Brittany, please step forward."

They did so, all excited.

"Ben, Rob. Come give me a hand."

They looked at each other, then walked forward. "What do you need us for?" Ben asked.

"Speeding up the process. Anyone can awaken a fellow Dragoon Spirit. Just watch me. He turned to Brad and pointed his sword to his spirit. "Awaken, Spirit of the Violet Dragon."

As with the others, Brad's spirit swarmed with life. Violet jolts of electricity pulsed through Brad's veins and around his body until erupting in a wide-range electro-magnetic pulse.

"Any guesses as to what powers he possesses?" Sean asked. There were none. Obviously, it was electricity.

The electrical bolts wrapped themselves around Brad like he was one big magnet. The bolts fused together, becoming armor. When it was over, Brad stood in basically the same armor as everyone else's. The only differences were that his armor was a deep violet and the band around his forehead had a spike going up in the middle and others getting smaller and smaller wrapping around his head.

"Ah," Brad said, rubbing his sore areas. "Does it always hurt like that?"

"No." Sean said. "Just the first time."

"Why?"

"Humans aren't meant to wield great amounts of power. The dragons have to break you in. Even then, you're not at full power. You'll all have to grow as Dragoons, becoming increasingly powerful and your bodies will adjust better. Soon, abilities you couldn't do, or ones that hurt to do, you'll perform effortlessly."

"Cool." Brad said.

"Oh, by the way." Sean said. "Melissa, would you transform for me?"

"What?" She asked. "How?"

"Just ask for your power from the dragon."

Melissa felt foolish, but closed her eyes anyway, silently asking the dragon to give her power. Instantly, it happened. Black energy surrounded Melissa as before and she reappeared as a Dragoon, quicker this time.

"Huh." She said. "That was easy."

"Told you. Now…" Sean's Dragoon Spirit glowed as he pointed his sword at Melissa's spirit. Suddenly, a rapier appeared in Melissa's hand.

"What!" She exclaimed.

"Your weapon. Use it well. Now, change back."

Melissa was going to ask how, but she tried the same way she went in. With a dark flash, she was herself again.

"Aw…I feel so weak in this form."

"Dragoons aren't everything. Learn to rely on your human body as well."

"Alright, alright." Brittany said impatiently. "C'mon! I wanna be a Dragoon already!"

"Patience." Sean said calmly. "Ben. Robert. You two transform them. Robert, you do Brittany. Hers is the Blue-Sea Dragoon. Ben, you do Christie. Hers is the White-Silver Dragon."

They both nodded. Ben pointed his sword as Robert pointed his spear.

"Awaken, spirit of the White-Silver Dragon."

"Awaken, spirit of the Blue-Sea Dragon."

Blue and white lights went off like mad. Christie's light overcame Brittany's by far, nearly blinding everyone. They all had to look away for a few minutes. Even when the light had vanished, they still saw little sparkles in the air and their eyes kind of flashed in and out of focus.

Christie's armor was different from everyone else's. Her armor was white, of course, except for the headband, which was light blue. Her armor was fashioned differently, however. The shoulder guards were very short, for one, but the white armored gloves went up a bit higher. Than the other Dragoons'. The armor covering her body stopped just below her chest, leaving her midriff exposed. As for her lower body, white armor matched her curves going down, like Melissa's, but unlike hers, it was more see-through. Not a problem though because there was a green skirt underneath it that went about halfway down her upper leg. She still had the white armored boots that went up to her knees, and a tad past. And, of course, there were the two white wings.

Brittany's was VERY unique. It looked, basically, like a one-piece swimsuit of blue armor. It went up in the front to her collarbone, but in the back, it went up a little further and wrapped around atop her shoulders so that the wings could come out. She still had the armored gloves and blue headband, but her lower armor was different. Instead of having the armored boots, her lower legs were bare. Her armor was on the upper part of her legs. But she did have blue footwear that looked remarkably like thicker high-heeled shoes.

The girls looked themselves over. Christie was slightly embarrassed by the look, but otherwise thought it was neat. Brittany loved everything about her new appearance. Sean's spirit glowed and he waved his hand, causing the other two spirits to glow. Weapons then appeared in the girls' hands. Christie was a long, white blow. Brittany's was an odd weapon: a long mallet with a large head.

"This oughta knock some people out." She said with a grin.

"Hopefully, it'll crack a few skulls." Sean said. "You'll need to. Okay, now, transform back." The girls did so with ease. "Alright." He rubbed his chin. "Where to start?" He pondered for a moment, then decided. "Flying. We can't just train here. I know of a lot of places to train, but we can only get there by flying, so everyone transform and let's get started!"

They all became splendid flyers within a couple hours. They couldn't fly too high, though, for fear of being seen. However, this had advantages. The Dragoons had to fly through the tangled mess of trees and their branches. They broke through a lot, but soon learned to evade very well, despite their wingspans. Brittany's favorite move was a dive straight down, then unfurling her wings at the last second and floating up again.

Sean taught them how to use quick aerial attacks, like a simple swipe with their sword or whatever. However, he never flew himself. In fact, none of the Dragoons had seen his Dragoon from yet. He said it was currently unnecessary.

After their flying lessons, Sean began showing them how to fight as humans. Sean had to give one-on-one training to each member, so they didn't all get much time to practice. They caught onto the basics for the most part, but they had a long way to go, of course.

Evening came faster than Sean had counted on. When it got dark enough, the guys got a bunch of firewood together.

"So does anyone know how to start a fire?" Brad asked.

"Why don't we ask our fire Dragoon?" Sean suggested. "Ben?"

"Me? Uh…okay." He remembered what Sean had said about talking to his dragon, so he asked it for power. Fire emerged from the spirit and engulfed Ben, yet he did not burn. The fire grouped together and formed red armor all over him, right where he sat. He opened his eyes and he was a Dragoon again.

"Now," Sean said, "Light the wood."

Ben nodded and outstretched his hand, concentrating. A rush of fire shot from it and ignited the wood.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this." Ben said with a giddy smile.

"You will." Sean said. "Soon enough, you'll feel naked without your Dragoon Spirit."

"I have a question." Brittany said. "You said you've been a Dragoon for a while, right?"

"Right."

"So how did you keep your work hidden?"

"My battles are always fought far from any human cities. Nobody knows these places still exist. Everyone's forgotten about them."

"Forgotten?"

"Yeah, they used to be inhabited by humans long, long ago. Some turned into today's smaller towns, though their origins are forgotten. The others were deserted or simply forgotten. My enemies sniff out these places to keep themselves in secret until ready to strike. I stop them, though."

"What kind of enemies?" Melissa asked.

"All sorts. Big, small, smart, dumb, you name it."

"And your parents don't know?" Brad inquired. "That's what I'm worried about."

"Me too." Ben said.

"How did you keep your secret a secret?" Christie asked.

"Well," Sean said. "It's wasn't all that hard for me, really. My dad's kind of lost interest."

"What about your mom?" Christie had to ask. "Mine can just look at me and tell I've done something."

They all noticed Sean's brief hesitation. "Not a problem either."

"Is it hard being a Dragoon?" Brad asked.

"Yeah. Often times, it's overwhelming. But I just keep thinking of what I'm protecting; what I have to come back to."

"But they never know." Robert pointed out. "So they can't appreciate it, can they?"

"No, and that's really discouraging sometimes. But you're still fighting for a good cause, and that makes it worth it." No one seemed thrilled, so Sean tried encouraging them. "But there are a few perks. Take flying, for example. I know you all enjoyed that." They all admitted that they had. "And there's that sense of freedom that comes with the wings. You become a great fighter, if you try, and get to kick a lot of butt. There's a lot of pride that comes with the job, knowing you're one of the select few chosen by a dragon to do such incredible feats. Such a calling has not happened in centuries."

"Say what?" Brittany caught on. "You mean this has happened before?"

"Oh, yeah. I didn't tell you guys. We're the third generation of Dragoons. Here, let me tell you a story…" And he went into the story once more, of the Dragoon Campaign, the winglies, virages, and Melbu Frahma. Their eyes were wide open as they listened to those that had gone before them. None of them could fathom the tales he had to tell, and the intensity of them.

When at last he was done, the sun was fully set and the Dragoons stared in awe.

"Wow." Brittany said. "You know a lot!"

"Only what I need to know."

"This brings me to another question." Melissa said. "How do you know so much? Nobody else knows anything about Dragoons, so what makes you so special?"

"Well," He said, "I, too, discovered I was a Dragoon quite by accident. Most of my knowledge came from my Dragon. He raised me as a Dragoon."

"Huh." Melissa said. "And the rest of you knowledge?"

Once more, they sensed hesitation. "A source."

"Can you be a little more specific?"

"A wingly."

"A wingly?" Brittany chirped in. "Did we, like, kill them all in the, uh, Dragon Campaign?"

"No, some of them still lived. To be honest, it was a surprise to me to find out she was of a different species."

"She?" Brittany caught.

"Yes, she. For a while, I thought she was a human."

Brittany tried putting it together. "An old girlfriend?"

"Hardly." Sean said. "She was almost twenty years older than me by human standards."

"Human standards?"

"In wingly years, she was approximately 5,589 years old."

Eyes shot open everywhere.

"Winglies live longer lives than humans."

"Much longer!" Brittany exclaimed.

"So she just taught you?" Melissa pressed on.

"She'd been carrying the spirit and it happened to glow around me, so she took the time to teach me what she could."

"Where is she now, though?"

"After a year or so, I can't quite remember how long, she left me in the care of the dragon. I never saw her again."

"And how long ago did she leave you in the care of the dragon?"

Sean thought back, seeming to strain his mind to remember. "Let me see…it was…" He seemed troubled. "I…can't remember…strange…" He shook his head. "It doesn't really matter."

They all looked at each other. How could he not remember something as big as that?

"Well," He said, "Any other questions?" There were none. "Alright." Melissa suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, uh, can I talk to you?" She requested.

"What is it?"

"Uh…over here." She motioned to the woods and they walked off into secrecy.

"Well?" He asked.

Melissa hesitated, nervously fidgeting her hands.

"I, uh…I…I know who the eighth Dragoon is."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapter five completed. So, most all the Dragoons are found. The last one will be discovered in the next chapter. But why was Melissa hiding it? And what of Sean's mysterous past? Those answers to be given soon. Please review for now!


	6. The Last Warrior

AUTHORS' NOTE: We just wanna say thanks to everyone who reviewed our story thus far. You guys rock! Here's the next chap for your enjoyment.

Chapter Six: The Last Warrior

Melissa didn't like the look Sean was giving her. He hadn't moved at all, and his eyes were locked onto hers, glaring deep into her soul, it seemed. This look frightened her.

"Judging by the way you spoke, I do not believe this was a recent discovery."

"It wasn't." She admitted. "In fact…I've known him my whole life."

"That so?" The calmness of his voice confused Melissa.

"Are…are you mad?"

Sean took a deep, thinking breath. "I trust you will give me a good reason as to why you kept this hidden from me."

"Alright…well…here's the story. First of all, I'm a twin."

"Are you now?" Sean replied calmly.

"Fraternal, not identical. My twin is male. We kind of had that link that everyone says twins have. We were really close."

"Were?" Sean caught on.

"Well, we still are, I guess."

"Something happened." Sean concluded.

"Yeah. Just a week after we turned ten, our parents announced that they were getting a divorce. My mom is a lawyer, so she did very well in court. She was able to deny any visitation rights. However, he _did_ get to take my brother with him…" She looked down, reminiscing on painful memories. "It was almost like he knew…"

"Who knew what?"

"Like I said, we'd just turned ten, and we always got each other something. Well, my brother kind of surprised me this year. He'd bought these two necklaces. One was for me and the other he kept for himself." He held up the Dragoon Spirit. "This was the necklace he gave me." She fiddled with it in her fingers and it shone slightly. "He…when he gave me mine, it glowed. I was fascinated. He said his glowed too and they shone brighter when they were closer, then he proved it. He told me that we could use the necklaces as a sort of connection. If we kept them, we'd always be close, no matter how far apart we really were…or something like that."

"And then next week, your parents said they were divorcing, and it was too coincidental."

"Yeah. You catch on quick."

"It's who I am." He said without emotion. "So your father took your brother with him with no visitation rights to you."

"Uh-huh. That being said, I couldn't ever see Mike…my brother."

"But doesn't your mother have any visitation rights?"

"Dad refused. He was able to get his lawyer to deny visitation rights as well." She bit her lip. "They did all of this without even caring how we felt. So, then, it became illegal for Mike and I to see each other. However, I _do_ still see him sometimes. You see, we still wanted to see each other, no matter what the law said. Mom would probably burst into flame if she saw Mike, but Dad doesn't care. He likes seeing me. That being said, I sometimes sneak over, but I can't do it too often, for fear of discovery."

"I see." Sean said.

"And that's the story."

"But why did you keep this from me?"

"Well, as you've probably gathered, my brother was…Mike is…"

"Close; dear to you."

"Yes, exactly. And…if anything were to happen to him…I don't know what I'd do."

"Then it'll be your job to make sure nothing happens, won't it?"

Melissa thought about it, and then nodded. "I guess so…but it's not like he really needs much defending."

"What do you…wait, is this the same brother that taught you how to fight?"

"Yep."

"Good. He'll be a valuable asset to our team."

"I think so too, but…I can't help fearing for him."

"Learn not to fear." Sean instructed. "Fear is the first step to downfall in out lives. I learned that early on and taught myself to become fearless. I had the dragon's help, of course. Dragons are born without fear, so perhaps yours can help you."

"Maybe."

"Anyway, I have one more question: what changed your mind?"

"Come again?"

"Why did you suddenly decide to tell me?"

She looked down. "My dragon. I spoke to her in a sort of dream. I can't really explain it…"

"You don't have to." Sean assured. "It happens to me all the time."

"Oh, well anyway, the dragon's been with me through the whole ordeal, so she knew about Mike. She told me I should get him to join. I asked why, I mean, didn't we have enough power? She said 'First off, no. The last Dragon possesses some traits we other dragons do not. But it's not just about power. Each human has different traits, some that few others have. It's the combination of traits and skills, as well as power, that make us victorious'."

"It's very true." Sean said with a nod. There was a brief silence before Sean spoke again. "So, you know where he is?"

"Yeah, he lives in the neighboring town. It's a little ways away."

Sean looked at his watch. "Quarter past seven. He'd still be up, right?"

"Of course…wait, you're thinking we should get him _now_!"

"Why not?"

"Well, I…uh…I didn't…"

"That's what I thought. Melissa, we're going to need EVERYONE'S help and you know it. The sooner he knows the better."

"Right, but…right." She submitted.

"And for another thing, I'm not going with you."

"You're not!"

"Nope. He's your brother, so he'll listen to you, you already know the stories to tell, and you know how to awaken a spirit. You don't need my help. Now go on."

"But…it takes a long time to get there and I don't have a vehicle!"

"Fly."

"Fly! But people will see!"

Sean sighed. "Melissa, what Dragoon are you?"

"The, uh, Dark Dragoon."

"And what would you say the current atmosphere is?"

"…Dark?"

"Exactly. This is your territory, Melissa. Use it. With your dark powers, nobody will see you against the night sky." He turned away. "I'll inform everyone. You go."

Melissa was hesitant and Sean saw it.

"We need him, Melissa. You're our best shot for reaching out to him."

Melissa looked down. "I know…"

"Don't fear." He said again. "Use it."

Melissa nodded, transformed, and flew away.

"So what about you, Brad?" Brittany asked anxiously.

Brad looked up from the fire. "What about me?"

"We don't really know anything about you. I mean, most of us were friends, but we all knew each other pretty good, at least. We know I'm the hyper one, Christie's the innocent one, Rob's the perverted stalker, Melissa's the kick-butt-don't, take-no-smack-from-no-one, touch-me-and-I'll-break-your-arm type, and Ben is…Ben, what are you?"

Ben gave her a look. "I wasn't aware I had a label."

"Well…okay, Ben is just Ben, nothing special."

Ben rolled his eyes.

"But none of us really know you. What's your story?" She folded her hands together and leaned her chin on them. Christie rolled her eyes. This was Brit's secret ploy to get closer to Brad, though the boy had no idea.

"Uh," Brad said, "Well…I don't know."

"Aw, c'mon!" Brittany egged on. "Spill it!"

"There's nothing to spill! My life isn't very interesting, really. It's just average."

"Nothing exciting?" Brittany asked, disappointed.

"Sorry, no." He lay back on his back, putting his arms behind his head. "My life is really boring." There was a silence. "Maybe…maybe that's why I decided to join."

"Yeah, I was meaning to ask." Christie said. "Why _did_ you join so quickly when Sean asked?"

"I don't fully know, but…maybe my feelings kinda acted on their own, you know. Maybe I was just trying to escape the dullness of my life and dive into a more exciting one."

"Perhaps." Christie said. "It looks like we're _all_ going to have a more exciting life from now on, huh?"

Everyone agreed.

"But," Brad continued. "It still puzzles me as to why the dragon chose me. I mean, I'm nothing special."

"He'll probably tell you." Ben said.

"Yeah." Robert chipped in. "You guys haven't experienced it, but you will tonight, I'm sure. The dragons talk to you in a sort of dream. They take your conscious mind to their world while your body sleeps. It's really cool."

"They can talk?" Brittany asked.

"Of course." Robert said, acting like he knew what he was talking about. "Their spirits, aren't they? So they still have that consciousness!"

Ben had to chuckle. "They'll explain everything to you."

"What about you two?" Christie asked. "You guys were found before us, right?"

"Only by a day."

"Yeah, so you've been there and all. What are the dragons like?"

"Oh, they're all different." Ben explained.

"So they told you why they chose you two?"

"Yep."

"What were their reasons?" Brad asked.

"Mine," Robert said, "Basically told me I had the potential-and ability-to kick serious butt. All I had to do was work on what I want to really kill." They laughed.

"And you, Ben?" Christie asked.

"I don't quite get what he said. He told me I had something that reminded him of his last bearer, though neither of us knows what."

"That's it?"

"All I can remember."

"Sounds cool." Brad said.

"It is." Rob assured. That was the point when Sean walked back into the group.

"Where's Melissa?" Christie asked.

"Off to find the eighth Dragoon."

"What!"

"As it turns out," He explained as he sat, "the last Dragoon is her twin brother."

"She has a twin brother?" Brittany caught.

"Apparently. Hopefully, she can convince him to join us."

Melissa streaked across the sky, covered in a veil of darkness.

"This is so cool." She whispered to herself. Looking down on the city, she could see how big it really was, stretching from the forest to the suburbs on the other side. However, she wasn't to stop in this town, and flying made it go by very quickly. That was the great thing about flying: no traffic. You could take up the whole sky and nobody cared. Wings were easier to manage than planes, so she could fly out of any danger in the blink of an eye.

The wind rustled her long black hair, which blended in with the black sky. There weren't many stars out tonight because of the larger part of the city. Streetlights and office lights shone far too brightly for the stars to get any radiance in.

Melissa pondered this for a while, and then increased her altitude. The city grew smaller and the lights grew dimmer, but a cloud also hindered her vision. Melissa flew straight up, pushing through the puffy nothingness and emerged in a puff of smoke above it all. Melissa could only stare. Up here, above the clouds, it looked as though you could just reach out and grab the stars and take them with you.

"Wow." She whispered. Her own voice sounded so alien in this place. The moon was about halfway full, a little more. It would be another week or so before it was full, then she would come back, high above the city streets and into the glorious nature of the night. Even without the full moon, Melissa wished she could stay here forever, basking in the splendor. Unfortunately, time was of the essence. She had to find her brother, quickly. So, regrettably, Melissa turned and dove back down through the cloud, soon able to see the human city that ruined the atmosphere of her dream.

Her home town was soon behind her and she had crossed into foreign territory. Of course, it was hard to tell. Where did one town end and another begin? There were no borders between them, no big black lines that separated people. She didn't know what divided them when she walked, and now, she was really confused. Who was to say where a place ended or began? They were all part of the same land mass, weren't they?

But in any case, the sky didn't belong to anyone, so she Melissa didn't care where she was. She liked being carefree like this, just zooming this way and that, doing as she pleased. Melissa began thinking she'd like being a Dragoon.

Melissa kept a sharp eye on the ground. Her eyes were unusually keen in this darkness. She later learned that it was the dragon's eyes, not hers, that could see so well. And she would only improve. It wasn't too long before she found the house. Lights were still on. Good. Melissa swooped down, careful to stay in the darkness and hid behind a small bunch of trees. There, she changed back.

"Boring." She muttered. She went to the side door, the one she always took. The door was open, but the screen door was shut. Melissa had noticed a lot of laughter from inside, as well as several cars. Now, looking through the glass, she saw a couple of people at the end of the table with cards in one hand and beers in the other. Some smoked. She didn't see her dad, however, so she knocked. The guys she saw looked over, but couldn't see her in the darkness too well.

"I think that's her!" One guy said, whom Melissa didn't see.

"Answer it, man!" Another said. The man at the end of the table put his cards and beer down, got up and walked to the door. As he neared, he suddenly stopped, and then slowly kept walking. He looked at her through the glass and could only stare.

"Aren't you a little young?"

"Excuse me?" Melissa asked.

The man looked back and hollered, "Hey, Matt! Next time you call for a stripper, ask for an age!"

"EXCUSE ME!" Melissa blasted.

"What!" Matt called back. He came into view and walked over. Matt was a big man in height and belly-size. He had thick arms and legs to support his wide frame and thin black hair. He also had a bit of a beard growing. He stopped the same place the other man had and smiled. "That's not a stripper, you idiot! That's my daughter!"

"Yeah, that's something every little girl wants to hear her father say." Melissa said, sarcastically.

"Let her in already!" Matt ordered. The man did so.

"Eh, sorry, Miss." He said. "I thought the place had made a mistake or something. I mean, you looked like you had the body to-"

"Not helping, Tom!" Matt stopped him.

"Sorry. I hope you take it as a compliment, young lady. I mean, if you were eighteen, I'd-"

"TOM!"

"I'll be good." And he left. Melissa was wide-eyed by now.

"Don't listen to him." Matt said. "He's already drunk. Anyway, how's my little girl?" He gave her a hug with his thick arms that squeezed the breath out of her.

"Can't…breathe…"

"Eh? Oh! Sorry." He let her go. "What brings you here so late?"

"What? Can't a girl stop by at any random time and say hi?"

He laughed a deep belly-laugh. "Well, we're in the middle of a poker game right now. I'd let you join, but we tend to get pretty hammered and you're not 21 yet, but if you want, Mike's got himself cooped up in his room."

"I'll see if I can pry him out."

"Alright. Good to see you again, Melissa."

"You too, Dad." She walked out of the kitchen and around the small house, quickly finding Mike's room. She slowly, but surely opened twisted the knob and eased open the door. The room was very dark. The only light was that from the open door and Mike's laptop.

Mike was a writer…sort of. He just wrote a few short stories on his computer, but didn't go anywhere real big. Melissa crept in, as not to disturb him and looked at the screen. It was blank. Mike was sitting with his chin in his hand, staring at the white screen, racking his brain for an idea. He sat there for a little while, contemplating quitting. Finally, Mike slowly closed the laptop…and slammed his head against it three times. Melissa cringed as he lifted his head back up and stared at the wall.

"Hm," He said. "Figure is light-footed; doesn't press too hard on the floor, telling me they are a lightweight. Quite possibly a female." He took a whiff. "Ah, lovely. The smell of sweat, sign of work. And not a hint of perfume to cover it." He turned around in his chair. "Then again, you never were the type who wore that stuff." He gave a smile.

"No, I wasn't. That'd give me away too easily." She sat on the bed, right in front of him.

"On the contrary." Mike said, "The fact that you _don't_ wear perfume sets you apart from almost every other girl in the world."

"You're saying I should wear some?"

"Nah, I'd just memorize the scent." They both laughed, and then embraced.

Michael Edwards kept his father's name after the divorce. Their mother changed her name back to O'Riley and made Melissa do the same. Mike was a big guy, but not in the same way as his father. Mike had a large frame and had developed the muscle to cover it. He wasn't a huge muscleman, but they were prominent. Thick, dirty blonde hair covered his head and he had gray eyes.

If you set them together and didn't know them, you could've never guessed that they were twins. They had nothing in common, physically, but their personalities were pretty similar.

"So what are you doing here so late?" Mike asked her.

"Oh, I was just around."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Well, good to see ya."

"Good to see you with your head still intact."

"Huh?"

She pointed to the laptop.

"Oh, yeah."

"Not doing so well?"

"I can't think of any ideas!"

"You do know that banging your head actually causes ideas to pop _out_ of your head, right?"

"…That would explain a lot."

She laughed. "So what've you been up to?"

"Nothing new, I'm afraid. Just doing my part to make things work."

Melissa understood. After the divorce, her dad pretty much lost it and fell into a drinking habit after a while. He'd gone into a slump, physically and financially. Mike had to take care of a lot of things, including finding random small jobs to make a few bucks. His laptop was the most expensive piece of equipment in the house except the TV, both of which had been sold at major discounts from various people who wanted to get rid of the devices. Melissa was disgraced at her father's disposition, but she couldn't change him. Mike did very well for what he did anyway, but she always wished more for her brother.

"Well," Mike continued, "What about you? What are you up to?"

"Oh…lots of stuff."

"That's all you're going to tell me? C'mon, be more specific. What's new?"

"Well, there's a new guy in town."

"New guy, eh? What's he like?"

"I'm learning about him. He has a pretty troubled past, but he does very well for himself. He's always so serious. I've seen him smile probably twice."

"You like him?"

"What!"

"Just curious."

"Well…he's a looker, I'll give him that, but he's not my type…way too uptight."

"Does he like _you_?"

"Uh…I haven't thought about it. Well, he was impressed with my fighting skills, but I don't think he likes _anyone_. He's not a relationship kind of guy. He journeys alone."

"Journeys?"

"Long story."

"Huh. Well, what else?"

"Well, I kinda made a couple new friends."

"Kinda?"

"Most all of us knew of each other and now we're all getting to know each other better. Right now, I'm closest to a couple girls, Christie and Brittany."

"Girls, eh?" Mike asked. "Did you tell them about your irresistibly hot brother?"

She gave him a light kick in the shin and shook her head. "Nah. Brittany likes this guy named Brad and another guy, Ben, has his sights on Christie."

"Ah, whatever."

"We've all sorta formed a group now, Brittany, Christie, Ben, Brad, Sean-the new guy, Robert, and me."

"Robert? Isn't he that guy who stalks you?"

"Yeah, but if he makes a move, he gets clobbered."

"It sounds like you've been busy." Mike observed.

"You have no idea." Melissa said.

Just then, Mike's door opened and their dad stepped in. "Hey, Mike." He said, "We're outta snacks and the boys are too hammered to drive. You mind?"

"Not at all." He and Melissa got up and left the room.

Everybody was significantly more drunk the second time around. Tom turned around and looked at Mike.

"Dude…" He hiccupped. "Your sister is hot!" The guys all laughed.

Melissa wanted to break his arm, but Mike quickly escorted her out of the house. Mike didn't drive. He walked. Melissa tagged along, having nothing better to do. As they walked, Mike pulled something out of his pocket: his Dragoon Spirit. Melissa quickly covered up its light, to stop it from shining too bright, but Mike's shone all the same. He looked back at her.

"Still got that thing, eh?"

"Yeah." She sighed, suddenly remembering why she was there. "Wouldn't let it go."

Mike smiled and kept walking. "Did you figure out why they shine like that?"

Melissa was hesitant. "They, uh, react to one another."

"Well, yeah, I know, but…" He let it drop. "Forget it." They continued walking, just talking about whatever. Melissa kept trying to find a good way to explain to her brother about the spirits, but nothing worked. Then, one came.

"Oh! Hey!" Mike suddenly said. "I've been meaning to ask you about something."

"What is it?"

"I saw something on the news. Apparently, some sort of monster thing attacked your town."

"Oh…yeah."

"And there were these two…things that fought it off and killed it, then flew away. Did you see it?"

"Not really."

"Oh, bummer. I wonder what those things were."

Melissa suddenly stopped at a corner. "What if I told you I knew them?"

"I'd call you a dirty rotten liar. Why?"

"Because I know them."

"You're a dirty rotten liar."

"I'm serious, Mike."

"Melissa, what do you mean you know them?"

"I mean…look, do you know any place we can talk in private?"

"Um…I know a few dark alleys."

"Well…I guess it'll have to do. We need to get to the deepest, darkest alley possible where NOBODY will disturb us."

"You got it." Mike led her into an alley not too far away. The alley went back much further than it looked and connected with other alleys in a giant network of confusion…unless you knew exactly where you were going. Finally, Mike hopped over some high bricks that were once part of a wall and went to the side, where the bricks stood higher and no one could see them, then went down to the darkest corner before finally stopping.

"Okay." He said.

"Wow." Melissa said. "Secretive."

"What you asked for. So what's up? How do you know those…flying things that beat that monster?"

"First of all, they're called Dragoons and I know…because I'm one of them."

"Really?" Mike asked, unconvinced.

"I'll prove it." Melissa said. Her Dragoon spirit glowed, but the darkness of it wasn't very visible in the darkness around. In the faint light there was, Mike saw Melissa's outline change a little, like something was growing on her. Then…some things shot out of her back and unfurled. They were wings! "Okay." Melissa said.

"Uh…I…can't…quite see you."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. My powers let me kinda blend in with the darkness." She stepped out of the shadows and let him see her. Mike's eyes shot open at what she had become.

"What...what did you do!"

"I tapped into the power of the dragon and became a Dragoon, a dragon knight."

"Dragon knight! What are you talking about?"

Melissa sighed, not wanting to go into the full story again. "These necklaces are the spirits of dragons long dead, okay? Mine has awakened, but yours is still sort of asleep. I'll awaken yours and show you more."

She held up the blade that had appeared in her hand and pointed it at his spirit. "Awaken…spirit of the…uh…" Melissa's face went blank. "Aw, man!"

"Wh-what?"

"I don't know what dragon yours is!"

"I…have a dragon?"

"The spirit of one. I told you!"

"Yeah, but…how can that be? I thought dragons didn't exist!"

"They do. It was a surprise to us all."

"All?"

"Remember that new group my friends and I formed? We're all Dragoons. Sean's our leader. He's the one who told me to come get you."

"Get me!"

And so, Melissa went into the story. She told Mike everything she knew about the dragons and Dragoons. She spoke of the wonder and she spoke of the danger. She spoke of the ups and the downs. She spoke of the power and she spoke of the responsibility.

"So let me get this straight." Mike said. "I'm supposed to be some divine warrior that's supposed to fight off the evil forces threatening to destroy mankind."

"Yeah."

"I've played this game. Someone always dies."

"Well…maybe."

Mike shook his head. "It won't be me."

"No one's saying you're going to die, Mike."

"But I can't take that risk."

"What? So you're not going to come?"

"No, I'm not."

"Mike! We need your help!"

"I'm sure. You guys already have seven, right? You'll find a way."

"No we won't! We need all eight!"

Mike took off his Dragoon Spirit and held it out to her. "Then find someone else, because I'm not going."

Melissa was a little hurt by this. "You'd give that necklace away though you know what it means?"

Mike thought again and put it on. "I can't, Melissa."

"Why not! Because you're afraid of dying! Because you're afraid of responsibility!"

"I have a responsibility already and that's keeping our father going!"

"What are you talking about!"

"You've seen him, Melissa! He's a wreck! The only reason he's alive is because of us! If we die…" He trailed off, not wanting to think of it. "I can't risk that. You've already made your choice, apparently, but I'm not gonna let our father down, okay?"

Melissa looked down. "But you'd let your sister down?"

Mike took a deep breath and looked down.

"Mike…" Melissa walked over to him. "When you gave me that necklace, you said it represented a lot. You said we'd always think of each other when we wore them, and that we'd always be together no matter how far apart. You said that the glowing represented our bond, and it does, Mike. It represents our bond as Dragoons."

Mike didn't look up.

"You also said…if I ever needed you, you'd be there."

He looked up at her as she put her hands on his shoulders.

"I need you now."

Mike didn't know what to think. Who would he abandon, his sister or his father?

"Melissa…that was over six years ago."

"And you owe me a lot." She countered, pinning him. "By doing this, you're protecting dad."

Mike finally caved. "Alright, alright."

Melissa smiled and embraced him.

"Man, what's dad gonna think when I tell him this?"

"Oh, uh, he can't know?"

"Why not?"

"It's better that the humans live their lives as they should and not worry about the matters of Dragoons…or…something like that, I can't quite remember. But anyway, no one can know but us."

"Okay…so, what now?"

Mike was able to convince his dad he was spending the night at his friend's. Seeing as his father was rather drunk by that time, Mike didn't even have to tell him which friend, so he was out in an instant. He couldn't fly yet, so he drove with Melissa as far out to the campsite as he could and stopped a dirt-and-grass "road" that came to a dead end at the woods.

"Boy, this hideout is perfect!" Mike said, fighting with thorn bushes. "Nobody can get to it!"

"That's the point!" Melissa said, maneuvering through the mess.

It was very dark, so Mike had to rely on Melissa to guide him, who could see through her Dragoon spirit. Soon, Mike saw a faint yellow light that grew brighter and brighter until he saw a fire through a gap in the trees. The siblings stepped through and looked at everyone and they looked back at them.

"Hey, guys!" Melissa said cheerfully.

"This him?" Sean asked, standing.

"Yeah. Everyone, this is my twin brother, Mike." He gave a nervous wave and they waved back.

Sean walked over and looked him over. "Melissa tells me you taught her how to fight."

"I did." Mike assured.

"She fights pretty well, and you're probably better. Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"I taught myself."

"Oh?"

"Living where I do, you have to learn how to defend yourself."

Sean rubbed his chin. "I don't think you entirely taught yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"I believe your Dragoon Spirit had something to do with it."

Mike thought about it. "Maybe. I don't know for sure."

"In any case, you haven't seen your powers yet, have you?"

"No, how did you know?"

Sean looked at Melissa. "Because I forgot to tell her what your Dragon was!" He looked back at Mike and drew his sword, pointing it at him. "Awaken…Spirit of the Golden Dragoon."

Mike's spirit began glowing.

"Oh, uh, Mike?" Melissa quickly spoke up.

"Eh!" He exclaimed as the power began surging.

"The dragon has to break you in the first time, so…this is gonna hurt."

"WHAT! AH!" He fell to a knee as the intense strength of the dragon flowed through his entire body, and then exploding out of it. The ground suddenly shook violently and the Dragoons lost their footing-all except Sean, who had expected such an occurrence. Soon, the shaking slowed to a stop and Mike was reborn as a Dragoon.

His armor was similar to the guys' dragoons, but it had some differences. First off, all of his armor was golden-colored and his armor was much thicker and tougher than the other Dragoons' was. Mike looked at himself in awe.

"Whoa…whoa…kinda bulky, but…whoa."

"Indeed." Sean said. "Your dragon is a master of strength and defense…of course, when it comes to magic, you're all but helpless. Anyway, you still need a weapon." Sean's spirit glowed, causing Mike's to glow. His weapon was an axe…a very, very big axe. The blade alone was half his size.

"Uh…how am I carrying this!"

"I told you," Sean said, "Yours is a dragon of great strength. But put it down before you change back."

Mike did and the dragon released him of its powers.

"Now try picking it up."

Mike did and about pulled his arms out of their sockets. He looked at the axe and tried again, pulling harder.

"C'mon." He grunted, giving it another tug. It began lifting a couple of inches off the ground. "Nnnnngggghhh…aw man! Hrrrtttttt…..dah! HURRRRRRRRRRNNNNNGGGGG…………….." He finally collapsed onto his rear, getting a laugh out of everyone, except Sean. "Oh, sure!" Mike said. "Laaaauugh! I think I pulled something!"

Everyone laughed harder. Even Sean had to smile a little. That was the most reaction they'd seen from him yet. "Yeah," Brittany said. "He can stay!"

Mike smiled, embarrassed.

"Alright, then." Sean said. "We have our army."

AUTHORS' NOTE: So all eight Dragoons are back together, but the adventure is only beginning. More to come, stay tuned and please review!


	7. Tying the KnotFirst Strike

Chapter Seven: Tying the Knot/First Strike

It is virtually impossible for a group as small as eight to stay together for two months and its members not get to know each other. Everyone got to know one another very well, for they would train in various ways; individually, pairs, or mixed groups. They trained together, but then they had to learn their own abilities as well.

Each element had its own special properties and each Dragon had their own unique moves. Even so, Dragoons could not be triumphant unless they learned to fight together. They would perform chain attacks and combination moves that would try their limits, but it was the only way they could learn.

As mentioned before, this training caused everybody to get to know each other very well. Sean kept his eyes peeled to learn everything about them that he could. He put them in teams, but tried to concentrate on one-on-one training for each member, as to discover them best. He learned their abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and their personalities. And he concentrated hard on drawing out their greatest traits.

This boy, this Mike Edwards character, was unnaturally strong. Sean concluded that, yes, the Golden Dragon had seeped some of its power into Mike's own body. It wasn't too long before he could hold the enormous axe in his hands without falling. He could swing the weapon all around with some ease. The axe slowed him down to speeds he wasn't used to, but he wasn't meant for speed. Sean told Mike to concentrate on his greatest gift, strength, so he did. His body changed a pretty good deal. He became visibly tougher; his muscles began bulging more and his skin was thicker. His element was quite useful; he was able to shift the earth around him if needed, but if the enemy was flying, his magic would be useless.

It was hard to imagine that this beast of a man could have the soul that he did underneath it all. Brittany called him a "soft giant", much to his embarrassment. Sean also noted that he had a strong will. Most of his strength seemed to come from his instinct to protect his sister.

Melissa didn't really need too much help, though. Sean had to admit that the girl had skill. Not long after the rapier was in her hands, she was a deadly warrior. A rapier is long and thin, so it's used primarily for quick thrusts, but Sean taught her how to use it better. Melissa was soon swinging and slashing at everything and anything that Sean threw at her. She had to rely on skill and speed to strike the foe down quickly, for the rapier could not defend her too well. If a bigger sword clashed with hers, it would easily overpower her, so she had to learn to be light on her feet in order to stay alive. Melissa's magic was very unique. She could drain an enemy of their energy and give it to herself, or open a gate that would suck in all enemies, unless they were too strong.

Melissa was tough all around. In her eyes, Sean saw no weakness. It intrigued him. He still could not think of where he'd seen those eyes before and it irked him, but he had no time to toy with it right now. He had work to do.

Robert was another incredible fighter. His lanky stature made him perfect for managing the spear. It takes a lot of talent to move the spear in such a way as Robert could. The speed at which he spun the spear would make one unsure of where it actually was. Sean could still tell, of course. Robert learned how to use the spear to create a sort of shield by spinning the spear around himself as to deflect weapons and strike the enemy. Such speed and skill caused him to be a very deadly fighter. Robert's element, wind, was highly useful, seeing as it was all around him. He could change the wind current in his favor, which helped flying, or create at shield with an outward wind force. His best skill was the ability to trap an opponent inside an air bubble and increase the air pressure inside, crushing his foe.

Robert was powerful and he knew it. He could be arrogant at times, but Sean did have to note that he was very confident. He never worried about failing, so he had a bright outlook.

Brad was a little harder to work with than the previous three. He had never fought before, so he was completely inexperienced. He had to use his fists and feet in combat, so he was at a slight disadvantage. He couldn't block weapons like everyone else could, so he had to concentrate on evasion, which seemed to be a forte for him. Brad grew to love his fighting style. Every single move flowed together perfectly; it was like a dance…where everybody got hurt. His greater attacks required perfect rhythm and movement, but he could nail them all soon enough. The electric element was very useful to the team, as it was so powerful. He could grant a quick strike with a bolt or make a wide electrical current with ease. His stronger moves required more energy, though. Therein lay a small problem. The electricity effected Brad's mind. If he used too much power, he'd be left with a severe headache that halted all actions from him. That being said, Brad stayed with low power.

Brad really got into his new life. As he said, he was glad to escape his boring home life and now, he was living a much better one, not only because it was more interesting, but he finally felt he was actually _doing_ something, something worthwhile. And no matter how hard his training was, Brad would not stop until he got it just right. Sean had to admire that.

Brittany was fast, and I mean FAST. Sean quickly discovered this and did what he could to extract her speed to be used in battle, which didn't take much. First of all, if she needed to flee, there was no problem. Not only could she outrun the rest of the dragoons by a long shot, but her flying speed was greater than anyone's, except perhaps Sean's. No one knew that. Brittany also learned to use her speed to enhance her attacks. She wasn't very physically strong, but she could lay a greater number of hits the faster she was, as well as block and dodge easier. Her physical strength wasn't too good, but her magical power was great. Her element was water, which was rather forceful in itself, but she could also freeze the water and use ice to her advantage.

The girl had a lot of spirit, to say the least. She could dive right into any exercise without complaint. She really wanted to do this, which was good. And when the other members were down, Brittany would lift their spirits back up by spreading her spirit about them. Brittany was the kind of person who made you smile with every word.

Christie was a lot like Brittany when it came to battle style. She had the same thin frame as Brittany did, so she wasn't too strong, but she didn't need that kind of strength too much. Her weapon was the bow and she only really needed two key aspects: accuracy and speed. Christie seemed to be a born archer, as she could soon hit every target Sean threw at her-and I do mean threw, and she got to the point where she could whip out and arrow, aim, fire, and get ready to fire again in the blink of an eye, a skill she'd need when it came to masses of enemies. If they got up close, Sean showed her how to use the arrows as makeshift daggers, as well as a few speedy body attacks. Christie's light element was good for eliminating dark foes, but it wasn't really meant for attacking. Christie's magic could heal her and her comrades if they were harmed, an ability everyone much appreciated.

Christie was another girl with spirit, although she didn't broadcast it as much as Brittany. Just about every time someone looked at her, she was smiling, or encouraging someone. She loved to help people, which was the main reason she'd joined in the first place. Christie was someone who could make you feel better just by being near her. Sean had to admire her spirit and her longing to help.

But the Dragoon Sean had to admire the most was Ben. It was as if Sean had awoken more than the Dragoon Spirit in Ben. Most of the Dragoons had known Ben, but they never knew he had this side to him. Even though Ben was supposed to be ranked amongst the lower Dragoons, he seemed to excel a bit. Ben was a great fighter, second only to Sean. He had an unnatural skill with his blade and was quickly able to attack anyone or anything that opposed him. Sean personally challenged him a number of times, and always won, but they were always difficult ones. Ben's element, fire, was naturally powerful, so Ben was one destructive Dragoon. A simply flick of his wrist would release a deadly fireball, or small explosive, whichever he chose. Ben's skill with a blade, the natural destructive power of fire, and the power he added with his element combined created the deadliest Dragoon Sean had ever seen other than himself.

Ben was a powerful fighter, but a real goof as well. Sean couldn't believe the transformation Ben always underwent from Dragoon to human, or vice-versa. When he was just hanging out with his friends, he was just like them, laughing along and talking like any human would. But when he was in battle, he was someone else. When in battle, the dragon seemed to manifest itself in Ben's body. When in battle, he was a valiant warrior.

When in battle, he reminded Sean of himself.

As Sean was watching the Dragoons, they, too, were watching him. Sean was an incredible fighter. The other Dragoons knew it, though he didn't display it. Sean would invite the Dragoons into personal challenges and win them all. He barely did anything while the Dragoons did everything they could. They all wondered what he be like at full strength. One thing that the Dragoons couldn't help but notice was that Sean NEVER transformed into a Dragoon. The most he ever did was stay on low power, and even then, he was powerful. They wondered if they could stay on low power like him and Sean advised them not to. He told them his Dragoon was much more powerful than theirs, so low power was still something. Low power for them would be highly ineffective. They were curious to see his full Dragoon form.

Another question perked the Dragoons' interests. How did Sean know all he did? He'd told them that someone taught him about the Dragoons, but Sean knew how to fight with any weapon. He seemed abnormally intelligent, like his brain was a size bigger than any one else's. They asked him about it, but Sean wouldn't give a straight answer. In a sense, Sean was quiet, meaning he only spoke what needed to be spoken, which was usually only in battle. When it came to common conversation, he never volunteered anything. When the other Dragoons would ask him a question, he would answer it simply and plainly, and then silence himself again. Sean was harder than steel. He always kept the same serious expression on his face and only smiled when fight plans went as he wished and even that was only a small grin. This question bothered the Dragoons the most: why was Sean so serious? If they ever brought it up, he'd brush the question off or give an answer that wouldn't satisfy them. While the other Dragoons had dozens of stories, Sean never spoke of his past other than the battles he'd faced. He didn't tell of family trips, or funny moments, or fantastic experiences, which everyone else spoke of and more. He only spoke of his experience in battle. And while the other Dragoons formed a tight bond, Sean seemed to go out of his way to stay away from that bond. He always seemed uninterested when the group would talk at night. He'd either go off to train by himself or he would stand against a tree and remain silent.

What had happened to Sean to make him so grim?

It was rather difficult to teach the Dragoons everything from the clearing. There just wasn't enough experience. That being known, Sean decided to take them on a "field trip". It was a long way away, so they all flew. Even so, Sean didn't use his full Dragoon powers. His spirit glowed and six wings-not two-emerged from his back and just glowed, not taking full form. The others were fascinated by this, but Sean still acted casual.

They flew for many hours, stopping here and there to rest. Then, as they were flying over a desert, Sean told them to land. They did so gratefully, as they were tired again. They landed on rocks and sand and took a breather, but choked on desert sand.

"How much…further?" Christie panted.

"No further." Sean explained. "We're here."

"Here!" Robert exclaimed. "We're…we're in the middle of nowhere!"

"Correction, we're in the middle of the Death Frontier."

"How inviting." Melissa grumbled.

"True, it's not a pretty place. People get lost in this desert for hours and many die."

"Well," Ben said, "We've got Brittany, so thirst won't be a problem for us."

"Actually," Sean said. "Thirst isn't the reason most people die out here, though it is a factor. You see, many creatures have made this place their home."

"Creatures?" Robert asked. "What kind of creatures?"

"Monsters."

"Monsters?" Brittany asked. "You're just…exaggerating, right?" At that moment, a large, brown, whale-like monster leapt from the sand, grabbed Brittany in its jaws and dragged her under.

"BRITTANY!" Several exclaimed.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Robert exploded.

"A sandworm." Sean said; too calm for the situation, though a bit anxious.

"What do we do!" Christie demanded.

"Mike, you're the Earth Dragoon. Go get her before she suffocates!"

"Oh, uh, right." He said. He jumped up and dove into the sand as if it were water. The other Dragoons could only watch and wait. They paced back and forth nervously. Sean watched the ground, but showed no signs of fear.

"So are you even worried about her?" Melissa suddenly demanded of him.

"Of course not."

Melissa's eyes burned. "And why not!"

"Because I know Mike will retrieve her." No sooner had he said that, Mike burst back out of the ground with Brittany in his arm and blood on his axe. He brought her down and she was instantly on her feet. She had a few scratches, but not much else.

"You should have more faith in your own brother." Sean said to Melissa, walking past her.

"You okay?" Christie asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. My armor protected me." Brittany turned. "Thanks, Mike."

"No problem."

"What happened to the Sandworm?" Brad asked. Right as he spoke, the monster jumped back up, angry about losing its meal. Mike swung the flat side of his axe and knocked the large creature away. It hit the ground and tried to burrow under, but Mike got it with his axe before it could.

"Alright." Sean said. "Nice job, Mike. Was it difficult defeating that creature?"

"It was kinda hard prying Brit. from its jaws, but killing it was pretty easy."

"I sure hope so because that is exactly what you guys will be doing all day long. Have fun."

Sean really meant what he said. There were few resting points because monsters kept coming. When one was killed, another took its place. The Dragoons really showed what they were made of that day, swinging, slicing, hacking, and blasting away. Sean kept track of them, watching how they worked, and they all did rather well. But something perked his interest more. The Dragoons all tried to look out for each other. When Brad saw an enemy that Ben didn't, he'd warn him, or just strike it down himself and Ben would thank him later. They all kept that pattern going when they could.

But their eyes couldn't be everywhere at once. Sean was observing, but every now and then, he'd give himself the pleasure of defeating an enemy or two on his own. As he swung a powerful side kick to knock away a monster, he saw something. Melissa was in a bit of a bind; many enemies were attacking her at once. Even so, Melissa looked like she could get through it, but that wasn't the problem. A Crystal Golem, a giant made of crystal had slowly snuck up behind Melissa and was raising its hands. Sean recognized this attack: Trans Light. It was a strong light-based attack that was strongest on dark foes, like Melissa.

Surely, she would see it. How could she miss it? But the monsters kept coming at her front, distracting her. The golem powered up. The attack might not kill her, but she'd be greatly weakened and the monsters would surely devour her. Sean kept waiting for Melissa to turn and look, but she never did; she just kept fighting as the Golem grew stronger and its hands began to glow.

In that moment, Sean felt a great sense of déjà vu. A memory! It flashed before his eyes. What memory, though? He knew he'd seen this before, but where? A scene was playing before his eyes again. She was fighting for her life, but would not survive. Something told him no. It could not happen again.

Filled with sudden unknown fear and foresight, Sean ran. His Dragoon spirit glowed and its energy went straight to his legs and wings. Together, they boosted his speed tenfold. He ran to the side and slid in the sand, but quickly got going again as the Golem fired its attack.

NO!

Sean dove and tackled Melissa hard. The Golem attacked the other monsters by accident. Sean and Melissa rolled a good ways from the impact, but soon came to a rough stop. Sean was still clinging onto her when they stopped, so they ended up with Sean lying atop Melissa. Although the position was rather awkward, neither was affected by it; each was concentrated on something else. Sean and Melissa's eyes were locked.

Melissa saw something in his eyes, but she didn't know what. All she knew was it was different from the stern, piercing gaze he always had. It almost looked…normal.

Sean was contemplating another problem. Those eyes haunted him yet again. Where had he seen them before? Just before she was attacked, he'd had a blind memory; he knew he'd seen something like that, but what? And why did he now feel such relief, looking into her eyes?

Finally, they both clicked and Sean quickly got up and helped her stand.

"Ow…" Melissa groaned.

Sean took a deep breath. "Sorry."

"What did you hit me for?"

He pointed back at the Crystal Golem.

"Where did that thing come from?"

"It was behind you." Sean said, returning to his calm state. "It was going to attack you with a light attack which would've surely resulted in your demise."

"It was going to kill me?"

"One way or another."

"Well, then," Melissa said. She pointed her sword outward and a thin, black ray shot from it, going right through the Crystal Golem, killing it. Then, she rubbed her side. "Did you have to hit me so hard?"

"Would you prefer to be dead?" With that, Melissa knew that Sean was back to his old self again.

"Right." She said with a sigh. For a moment, it looked like the fierceness of Sean had lifted, but she was wrong. It could not be lifted.

Sean turned and put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, then motioned everyone to follow him. He led everyone to a safe spot on a nearby mountain and they all rested.

"You guys alright?" Brad asked.

"Yeah," Melissa said a little glum, "We're fine."

"What happened?" Mike asked.

"Melissa almost got blasted by a crystal giant thing, but Sean shot in and saved her." Ben told them. He looked at Sean. "You hit her pretty hard, though."

"I had to be quick." Sean replied.

"Yeah," Robert said, needing to get his two cents in, "but you weren't quick in getting off her."

Melissa looked down at the ground, embarrassed, but Sean kept his gazed fixed upon Rob.

"Careful." He said, toying with the hilt of his blade. "Alright, everyone can change back now. We're done for the day."

"But shouldn't we fly back?" Brittany asked.

"Why? We're going somewhere else tomorrow."

"Oh…"

"We'll be training like this for a while. Each day we'll try to go somewhere different."

"Yaaaaay." Robert grumbled.

The summer was quickly coming to a close. August was slipping through their fingers and school would start soon, so Sean decided to end "camp" exactly one week before then. Today was their last day, but Sean said that they would be coming here still, whether it be after school, during the weekend or whenever he felt like calling a meeting.

Before they left, Sean decided to give them one last challenge.

"Fight me."

"Are you crazy?" Ben asked.

"Sometimes I wonder." Sean replied.

Robert looked at Ben. "I think he's serious."

"Sean, we can't fight you." Christie said.

Sean drew his sword. "Then defend yourself!" He ran at them and jumped. Ben could barely get out the way and draw his sword again to block. He ducked under Sean's swipe and swung himself. Sean ducked and kicked out his leg, but as soon as he fell, Brad jumped clear over him and his foot connected with Sean's face. Sean went with it, rolling, then spun back onto his feet in time to block a few kicks.

He felt Brittany come on and ducked. Her mallet swung right over him, but he had to instantly jump over it and block Brad's kick. He blocked another swipe, then kicked Brad down and grabbed Brittany and threw him over his head and into Brad's chest. Then, he started to ram his blade through them both, but stopped.

"Both dead." He said, and then turned to fight again. "Five to go."

An arrow struck his arm and stuck there. Sean ignored the pain and blocked the next one, then ran at her. She pulled out an arrow and swiped at his face. He dodged it, then swung his leg, tripping her, and then put his blade to her throat. "You're dead."

He removed the arrow just as the other four came at all sides, each striking a different way. Sean deflected Ben's blade, dodged Melissa's, ducked under Mike's attack and jumped away from Robert. But Rob wouldn't let him go so easily. He chased after him, swinging every way he could. Finally, Sean got a block and held it, then spun inward, catching Rob's stomach with his elbow and then swung his blade, but stopped at Robert's throat. "Dead."

Sean jumped back from Mike's swing and almost connected with Melissa's sword. She swiped again and Sean took the hit on his arm, and then pushed her back. He would've done more, but Mike was right on him, followed by Ben. He avoided both strikes and got a hit on Mike's leg, causing him to stumble. Sean jumped and kicked his head, knocking him to the ground and pointed the tip of his Claymore at his head. "You're dead."

Sean straightened up and looked at his last two opponents. Sean's sword itched in his hand, waiting for the right moment. Ben and Melissa came at different sides. Melissa was faster, so Sean got ready to block, but suddenly, she stopped. Ben jumped and kicked, knocking Sean back. This he hadn't expected. Melissa shot forward and struck his leg. Sean fell back onto his free hand and swung his other leg and kicked her head, then rolled with the kick away from Ben's sword and kicked him in the back of his knee, buckling his legs. He swung his arm over and bashed Ben's head with the hilt of his sword.

Melissa tried to strike again, but Sean rolled away and got another kick on her head, then rolled to her and put his blade to her neck. "Dead."

Both remaining opponents stood to their feet. Ben's head hurt like crazy and Sean's leg was getting to him, but neither man let it stop them.

They ran at each other, full-force. Their swords clashed in a shower of sparks and deflected off each other. They struck again and each held their weapon where it was, pushing against the other.

Sean quickly pushed Ben back and swung low. Ben swung his blade around and blocked it, then spun the other way to get a strike, but Sean blocked it and kicked at him. Ben avoided it and spun, giving him a back fist to the head. Sean used it and spun awkwardly, swinging his leg up and connecting with the back of Ben's head.

Both fighters fell to the ground and rolled away to stand and ran at each other again. Ben swung low and Sean jumped right over him. They both spun and clashed again. Sean had had enough of this. He pushed Ben's blade away, then struck it again to ensure the effect and spun, kicking Ben's stomach, then swung his leg back, knocking Ben onto his back.

Sean raised his blade and swung it down to finish him off, but something unexpected happened. Ben swung his leg up and kicked the blade away and rolled backwards, then kicked the flat side of the blade again and spun around, slashing Sean's stomach.

Sean stumbled back in surprise. He looked at his stomach and the blood seeping from it, then up at Ben with anger. He ran at once and swung. Ben blocked, but the swing was way too powerful and knocked the katana away. Sean spun and kicked the blade from his hand, then continued spinning and slammed the sole of his other foot into Ben's chest, slamming him into a tree behind him and held him there. Next, Sean jumped up and swung his leg up and kicked Ben's head, knocking him to the ground.

Sean kicked Ben's sword away before he could get it and walked over to him. Ben looked up at him.

"Give yet?"

Sean stared at him and shook his head. He raised his sword.

Lightning-quick, Ben whipped out a dagger he had with him and struck Sean's leg. Sean fell and Ben ran over to grab his sword. Sean yanked out the dagger and threw it at him. Ben grabbed his sword and swung, deflecting the dagger. Sean got up and both foes stared each other down.

At that moment, their Dragoon spirits glowed, but it wasn't for transformation. Each dragon transmitted the same information to their Dragoon: something was coming.

"We'll finish this later." Sean promised. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass vial. He shattered it and light blue gales surrounded everyone, going through them and healing them of their wounds. Then, he reached into his pack and got some binoculars to search the area that the dragon had told him of.

"What do you see?" Christie asked.

Sean slowly lowered his binoculars. "Trouble."

"What?" Brittany asked. "What is it?"

Sean looked at them. "Virages."

"Virages?" Robert spoke up. "You mean like that thing we fought a while back?"

"Yeah, but there are many more now."

"No problem." Rob said, cracking his knuckles.

"Maybe." Sean said. "Just don't get cocky. Dragons are the archrivals of virages, so they'll have a grudge. Let's do it."

Everyone's Dragoon spirits glowed, transforming them from typical teens to Dragoon Warriors. Sean still stayed on low power, though. They all flew up into the sky and saw the cloud of virages drawing near.

"This is gonna attract people's attention." Brad noted.

"Point noted." Sean replied. He flew forward, but above the flock and fired a few blasts into the air. The virages looked up and chased after him. Sean flew away and they chased him far from the city. The Dragoons followed close behind.

Once they were over a large plain, far from the city, Sean turned back.

"Alright, people, this is it!" Sean called. "This is the real thing! Make me proud! GO!"

The Dragoons attacked from behind and the battle began.

Ben sliced through the head of one, killing quickly, and then swiped twice at another. It struck back, but Ben stabbed its head. Another virage came at him and Ben took a different approach. He tossed his sword into the air and a fireball formed in front of him.

"Flameshot!" He punched the fireball into the virages face. Then, he caught his sword and spun it around the stab the eye of a virage sneaking up behind him. It let out an ear-piercing wail and fell to the ground.

Christie fired two arrows, killing two virages, but didn't see the third one in time. She started for an arrow, but was too late. The virage grabbed her in its powerful hand and squeezed tightly. Her windpipe was shut, so she couldn't even cry out as her spine snapped in two. The virage then threw her to the ground. The pain was unbearable and Christie could hardly move. She looked up as the virage loomed over her. Christie slowly and painfully put an arrow to the string and pointed it straight up.

"Moon Light." She muttered and released the arrow. It flew at great speed and struck the moon (believe it). A thin ray of light shone from where the arrow struck and beamed down on Christie. She felt her spine reconnect painlessly and all of her wounds went away. She jumped back up and shot the virage in the face.

Robert was having virtually no trouble at all. A virage swung at him, but he dodged and stabbed its hand. He then saw two more virages coming, so he decided to kill three birds with one stone. He held his spear up and the wind picked up violently. It all flew into Robert's spear, causing it to glow green.

"Wing Blaster!" He shoved the spear forward and a green bird made of wind gales shot out, striking all three virages.

Brad was really enjoying the battle. He backflipped, kicking a virage in its "jaw" and fired a thin electrical blast to knock it back. Brad flew over and laid several punches to a virage's face, then kicked away to strike down another. To finish them off, Brad raised his hand as his Dragoon spirit glowed a bright violet hue. The sky suddenly grew dark and sparked a bit.

"Atomic Mind!" He declared. Three thunderbolts shot down and struck the virages, holding them there for a minute, and then a larger bolt struck down in the middle of them, knocking them down."I love my job!" Brad laughed.

Brittany was a total speed demon. She flew way too fast for the virages to cope. Brittany dazed a virage with a seemingly endless flurry of mallet strikes, and then lay a powerful one on its face to defeat it. A couple more came at her and she just smiled. This was going to be fun. Brittany extended her mallet and spun lightly. Thick chunks of blue ice surrounded her, and then flew around the virages. She raised her mallet up and the ice chunks spun faster.

"Freezing Ring!" She swung her hand down and the ice chunks suddenly expanded, shoving jagged spears of ice into the virages' bodies.

Melissa swung her rapier several times across a virages face, soon killing it. She was doing well, but she'd taken her share of beatings and then some. She looked and saw another virage coming at her. She flew up high and raised her sword.

"Astral Drain!" She threw her sword and it stuck in the virage's head. She pulled back her hand and the virage's life was sapped from it and given to Melissa. Her wounds healed before her eyes and transferred to the virage, only much worse. She extended her hand and the rapier flew back into it. The virage fell down, dead.

Mike had little trouble. A virage smacked him and he rolled in the air a little, but barely felt it. The virage swung again and Mike swung his axe at it. The hand swung away and Mike flew in to pound its head. More were coming, so Mike stepped it up a notch.

"Grand Stream!" He slammed his axe into the ground and it began to rumble. A long fissure ran down underneath the virages and stopped. Mike pulled back on the axe and a "stream" of earth rushed in and covered the virages.

Sean had been longing for a real battle and this was his second one today. He was having a good time. Sean floated around, planting quick and lethal strikes on virages here and there. He sliced off a head and stabbed a brain, then turned and extended his hand. A white ball formed in his hand and separated into five smaller blasts each which went forward and attacked a virage, killing it. He lowered his hand.

"Far too easy."

The virages were being picked off one by one fairly easily. The Dragoons' training was paying off. But then, Sean spotted something else.

It was large, but stubby and a nasty brown color. It only had one arm that seemed to have no joints, as it stuck up at an angle like a giant lever. On its left shoulder, it had a strange organ. It was long with many holes, like the barrels of a gun. Its tiny head was lined with seven green eyes which glared at the Dragoons.

"Aw, great." Sean groaned. He flew in to attack it on his own. He wasn't too sure if he could do it on low power, but he'd try. He swiped at it, but its skin was too thick to have any real effect. Sean swiped twice more, aiming for the head, then flew up and came down, slamming his sword into its back.

The new monster only got angry. Sean thought he saw a tiny red glow coming from the virage's center eye. A feeling ran over Sean and he looked down. Sure enough, there was a little red dot like a laser pen. His eyes shot open and he flew away just as the monster fired and enormous beam. Sean felt the heat graze his back as the blast tore through a number of virages.

The other Dragoons were still striking virages left and right when a giant blast suddenly killed several of them. They all looked at where the blast had come from and saw Sean attack a strange and ugly monster.

"What is THAT!" Robert exclaimed.

_A Super Virage!_ The Jade Dragon exclaimed. The other Dragoons were hearing the same message.

"Super Virage?"

_A virage sub-species. It's much more powerful than the regular kind. I doubt Sean can handle it on his own._

The Dragoons all looked at each other.

"So what do we do?" Christie asked to no one in particular.

"We have to help him." Ben said.

"But what about the other virages?" Mike asked. The Dragoons all received the same message from the dragons.

_Let us handle that._ The Dragoons' spirits glowed brighter than ever as seven colored portals suddenly opened in the sky. Through each portal, a different dragon emerged, ready to fight.

"Wh…what!" Ben exclaimed.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" The wispy voice of the Jade Dragon said.

"It's a special ability of ours." Said the piercing voice of the Dark Dragoon. "We can fight on our own for a time."

"We'll handle the virages." The deep voice of the Golden Dragon said. "You guys help Sean." The Dragoons looked at each other, and then flew over to help their comrade.

Sean stabbed again, but his blade still had little effect on the beast. It swung, but missed and Sean got ready to strike. Suddenly, a fireball blasted the Super Virage and a lightning bolt struck it. Sean turned and saw the others coming towards him as the dragons fought behind them.

"This thing just keeps on ticking." Sean said.

"I'll get it." Mike said. He flew forward at full speed and pounded the Super Virage's face. It finally seemed to take a hit and groaned. He spun around and struck its side and the virage groaned again.

"Alright." Sean said. He looked around at the Dragoons. "Melissa, you go. Your weapon is thinner, so it can probably pierce its skin. Melissa nodded and flew up to the virage, then stabbed its back.

"Brad, your magic should have some effect. Everyone else stay back." Brad flew up and powered up for a greater attack. Melissa dove for the virage's head and stabbed it deep. Mike slammed its head as well with his axe as hard as he could. Brad released a great bolt of electricity with gave the monster the shock of its life just as Mike and Melissa pulled back.

The Super Virage thrashed a little from the electricity, and then finally slumped down. The three of them flew back.

"Nice work." Sean said with a small grin.

But then, the virage shuddered and stood again.

"It's alive!" Mike exclaimed. Sean's Dragoon spirit suddenly blared a warning.

"Oh, man!" Sean said. "It's using its finishing move!"

The Super Virage shook violently, undergoing constant spasms; the monster looked highly unstable. The gun barrels began to glow.

"Defend!" Sean ordered.

"Rose Storm!" Robert shouted. Green bubbles surrounded the group. It wasn't much, but it may help.

The Super Virage's spasms grew increasingly violent until it finally fired. A flurry of powerful purple rays fired from the gun barrels in rapid motion, blasting each and every Dragoon many times. Then, it blew up. The explosion was very large and very loud.

When it was all over, the Dragoons were scattered about the ground and the dragons and virages were gone. One by one, they stood to their feet again.

"Whoa…" Brittany said.

"Yeah." Christie concurred.

"Ow." Brad groaned.

"Man." Ben grunted.

Sean stood to his feet. "Well, that was unexpected." He put his sword away.

"Nothing phases you, does it?" Melissa asked.

"Nah, not really. Everyone alright?" Everyone was. "Nice job with the Rose Storm, Rob. It probably saved our lives.

"No…prob." Robert was winded from trying to hold up the shield for so long.

"So, what did you all think?" Sean asked.

"Exhilarating." Brittany said.

"That would be the perfect word for it." Mike agreed.

"That's just a small taste of the battlefield, my friends. Things will get a lot tougher. So I'll ask you all once more: Are you up to it?"

"You kidding?" Ben asked. "You think that just because we had one tough battle we're going to quit? No way! We're here all the way!" The other Dragoons agreed.

"Good." Sean said. "Now let's head back to camp and get ready to leave. Oh, and one more thing. Once we leave, I won't treat you guys like beginners any more. I'll look to you as true, mature Dragoons. Understood?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, then. Let's go."

AUTHORS' NOTE: We loved the reviews you gave us, so we got this one in early. Thanks a lot , you guys! The Dragoons will finally move out into the real world, but Sean still remains a mystery. What's his secret? That answer to be revealed in the next chapter. Stay tuned and review for now, please. Ciao!


	8. Realization

Chapter Eight: Revealed

The eight Dragoons found it a bit more difficult to get together, but Sean somehow always found a way to train. The school year had begun and the Dragoons had to try and act like normal individuals, like they were before this whole mess started. Some of them found it difficult to hide their weapons from their parents.

Everyone was glad to be home, though. Things seemed a little less hectic.

Sean didn't really seem to fit into the school. He still had the same attitude as he did in the woods, so he never really opened up. It was really starting to bug the other Dragoons, mainly because they didn't understand.

But fate has a way of playing interesting games with its human toys.

Sean was walking through the halls after school, his backpack on his shoulder and ready to leave. As he walked by the main lobby, Sean spotted Melissa looking at a paper on the bulletin board. He stopped behind her and read it as well.

"A dance?" He asked out loud.

She turned her head around. "Yeah, they've been announcing it. It's Friday. I'm just double-checking the times."

"Hm." He said, not really going into it.

"I assume that you have no interest in going?"

"You assume correctly."

"Aw, what's the matter?" Melissa teased. "Can't dance?"

Sean gave her a look. "That's not the reason."

"Well, just come with us. The whole gang is going."

"Are they now?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, then the whole gang will be there except me."

"Ah, come on! Have some fun!"

"My idea of fun is a good fight. If you're going, then go ahead, but not me. Not my style. Later."

Melissa sighed and shook her head. She finished reading the bulletin and went down the hall to get her own things.

A little ways down, she spotted something on the ground: a book. She knelt down and looked at it. Romeo and Juliet. The entire sophomore English class was reading it. Somebody would need it. She opened the book and looked at the name in the front cover. She barely believed the name she saw.

Sean McMann

Sean was already long gone when Melissa found the book, so she had to find other means of returning it to him. When she got home, she called Ben and asked where Sean lived. He gave the directions and she went off.

It was a bit of a walk from her house to Sean's, but she eventually found it. It was a quaint little place. She went up and knocked on the front door. She waited for a little while, but got no response. She knocked again.

"Come in!" A voice called that was not Sean's.

She opened the door and walked inside slowly and nervously.

"Living Room!" The voice called again. Melissa found her way into it and saw a man in his late forties, standing on a ladder, working with the ceiling fan. "I would've answered the door, but I couldn't let go of this thing without it breaking. Sorry. Give me a sec." He finished working and moved down the ladder. He stepped off and looked at his visitor. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, you don't know me." She said. "I'm Melissa. I'm a friend of Sean's."

The man chuckled. "I wasn't aware Sean had friends."

"No?"

"He doesn't talk much about school. I'm Hank, Sean's dad. Nice to meet you." He shook her hand, and then froze. He seemed to be staring at her.

"Is…something wrong?" Melissa asked. He quickly snapped back to reality and let go of her hand.

"Sorry, sorry. You, uh…you kinda look like someone I knew."

Melissa got curious. "Who?"

Hank bit his lip, unsure.

"Hey, Sean!" He called.

"What?" Sean's voice called back.

"You got a visitor!" Melissa heard a door open and Sean stepped in.

"Melissa?"

"Hi." She said.

"Now tell me if I'm wrong," Hank said, moving to him, "but doesn't she look kinda familiar?"

Sean looked at her. Once more, the mystery haunted him. But his dad saw it too?

"Yeah, she kinda does." He said. "I've been trying to place it for a while."

"You have?" Melissa asked, surprised.

"You know who I think she looks like?" Hank asked.

"Who?" Sean wanted to know.

Hank looked at him and spoke the name.

"Anna."

For the first time since he couldn't remember when, Hank saw his son's expression change. It went from serious to stunned.

Sean couldn't believe it. He finally knew and it all made sense. Anna…

"Who's Anna?" Melissa asked.

"My late wife." Hank said.

"Late?" Melissa asked.

"I was on a business trip, so Anna decided to take Sean camping. But…there was an accident at a waterfall. Anna fell. They found her body miles downstream."

Melissa felt guilty. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "It's alright. That was years ago."

Sean crossed his arms. "So did you need something?" Hank and Melissa were both surprised by his coldness.

"Uh," Melissa said. "You dropped this in the hall." She handed him the book.

"Ah, thanks. I was looking for it."

"No problem." Melissa got a coy idea. "One more thing, though. You're picking me up at 6:30, right?"

"What?" Sean asked.

"You know. The dance?"

"Dance, eh?" Hank asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, we just decided today. Silly me. I already forgot when he was supposed to pick me up!"

"Well, this is new!" Hank said with a smile. Sean fought for composure.

"Yeah, it took a little convincing, but I finally got him to come with me." Melissa smiled at her plot.

"I'll bet." Hank chuckled. "This guy is one tough egg to crack!" He gave Sean a light slap on the back.

"So it was 6:30, right?" Melissa asked again. The question hung in the air as both people looked at Sean in anticipation.

Sean's jaw was clenched tight, but he uttered out a response.

"Quarter 'til seven."

"Ah, right!" Melissa said with a bright smile.

Hank was smiling just as bright. "I'll let you two talk." He walked off and said, "Don't screw this up, kid." Sean didn't respond. Once Hank had left, Sean spoke.

"You say you're my friend, but you play a very cruel game."

She patted his cheek. "I'm just more spice than sugar." She turned and tossed her head teasingly. "See you Friday. Don't be late!" With that, she left.

Sean couldn't believe he'd been caught in such a trap.

"So," Hank said, reappearing. "You finally decided to pick a girl?"

Sean rolled his eyes. "Just drop it." He walked past.

"I'm surprised you didn't see it." Hank said.

Sean stopped. "Didn't see what?"

"She does look a lot like Anna."

He turned. "It's been years. Why were you surprised?"

"Because you still haven't let her go."

That stung.

"I have things to do." He went into his room and closed the door. Hank heard the latch lock. He sighed and walked away.

In his room, Sean leaned his back against the door in deep thought. So that was it; the mystery was solved.

Anna.

Melissa did look a lot like her. Was that why he was so desperate to save her in the desert? Was that why he agreed to go to the dance? Was…was that why he felt…drawn to her?

Sean slowly looked up at his nightstand drawer. He inched towards it, baby step by baby step. He put his hand on the handle and took a deep breath. He eased open the drawer. There it was. He looked for a moment and started to extend his hand. Suddenly, he slammed the drawer shut and closed his eyes.

It was in the past. It was a memory.

Nothing more.

In his own room, Hank was thinking the opposite. He was holding his own picture and thinking. She wasn't just a memory. She was his life.

Friday came way too fast for Sean. He was very reluctant, but he'd already said yes. The dress was casual-thank the Lord. He'd go to a dance, but he would NOT dress up.

Even so, Sean found himself looking a tad more than casual as he examined himself in the mirror. But nothing else seemed right. Since when did he worry about what he wore?

Sean shook his head and walked out of his room. He passed his dad on the way out, who had to smile once more.

"Heading out?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Nervous?"

"Never."

"Alright."

Sean caught something in his dad's eyes.

"Something wrong?"

"Hm? No, nothing. Go on now. Knock her dead."

"I don't think you really want me to do that." Sean said as he walked out the door.

Hank looked at the ground. He'd said he was alright, but in all honesty, he wasn't. Ever since his encounter with Melissa, he'd been thinking about Anna. It was all flooding back to him again. Feelings came over him he thought he'd vanquished.

A thought ran across his mind. He headed up to the attic.

Sean pulled up to Melissa's house. She was sitting on the porch swing, waiting. As she stood and walked, Sean noticed she looked a bit more than casual too. It wasn't bad, though. She looked pretty good, actually. Sean opened her door from the inside and she got in.

"You actually came." She noted.

"I'm on time." He said.

"I know. I just had a feeling you'd change your mind."

"I said I'd go, didn't I? Let's get going." He drove away.

The school was packed with students. Sean found a parking spot and they walked inside. As soon as Melissa saw the rest of the gang inside, she slipped her arm in Sean's.

"What are-?" He began.

"Aw, isn't that cute?" Brittany teased. Sean sighed. Melissa just laughed.

"You're going to have a lot of fun with this aren't you?" Sean asked her.

"Yeah."

"Wonderful."

"So you actually got him to come." Mike said. "I'm impressed."

"Without his sword too." Brad added.

"And sober." Robert put in.

"Yeah, yeah." Sean grumbled. "I'm just here because she tricked me."

Just then, the music began.

"Party time." Rob said with a smile. They went into the gym and Sean reluctantly followed.

Melissa continued her ploy to socialize Sean not long after the dance started. Three songs after the first, a slow song began.

Brittany and Brad had been on the sides, talking when the song began. Brittany knew this was the time to act. However, for the first time since she couldn't remember when, she was nervous, too nervous to say anything. Several times, she'd open her mouth, but no words came out.

_C'mon, Brittany!_ She told herself. _Since when do _you_ get stage fright? Alright, just ask him in one…two…three! Okay, that didn't work. One…two…three! Aw, c'mon! Last chance! One…two…_

"Hey, Brittany." Brad interrupted. "You, uh, wanna dance?"

Brittany couldn't believe it. "Uh, yeah, sure." So, they danced.

Part of Ben wanted to ask Christie to dance. The rest of him was telling him "No way, buddy. Ain't gonna happen."

Mike nudged him. "Dude, just ask her already."

"It's not that simple!" Ben insisted. "Once you ask someone to dance, the friendship line is crossed, whether they say 'yes' or 'no'."

"Yeah." Mike had to agree. "But what if she says 'yes'? That's what you've always wanted, right?"

"Well…in a way, yes, but then…" He trailed off.

"But what?"

Ben sighed. "Nothing. Just forget it."

"Mm, alright."

"So what about you? You dancing with anyone?"

Mike shrugged. "Dunno."

"I sure am." Robert suddenly said.

"Who?"

"The girl who just walked past."

"You mean the unbelievably hot one?"

"Yeah."

"You choose based on appearance? You're despicable."

"She has a hot friend."

"Really?" Mike's interest suddenly perked and both guys walked off.

Ben had to laugh as they left.

"Hey."

Ben turned. Christie! "Oh! Hey."

"Are you just going to stand there?"

"Oh, uh, I don't know."

Just then, another guy walked up to Christie. "Hey, Christie."

She turned. "Hi, Greg."

"You wanna dance?" Ben's heart sank.

"Sorry. I already have a partner."

"Oh, that's cool." He left.

"You do?" Ben asked.

"Yeah." She said. "So are we going to dance or what?"

Ben's eyes shot open. "Me?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Are you sure?"

Christie gave him a funny look. "It's just a dance. C'mon!"

_Just a dance, eh?_ Ben thought. _Alright. I can play her game._

"Uh, yeah. But…I'm not very good."

"I'll be the judge of that." Christie said, pulling him along.

As soon as Sean heard the slow music, he feared the worst. He began to leave, but Melissa found him and dragged him onto the floor.

"C'mon! Dance with me!"

"I don't want to." Sean groaned.

"Too bad." She put her arms around his neck.

"I don't even know how!"

"Just put your hands on my waist and go with me."

He sighed and did so.

"There." She said. "That wasn't too hard, was it?"

"Mm."

"What's the matter? Not comfortable with physical contact?"

"Not really."

Melissa sighed. "You'll never get a girl that way."

"Not a problem."

"What? You have no intention of ever getting a girlfriend?"

"Not really."

"Geez, you are hopeless!"

"Because I don't wish to burden myself?"

"Oh, sexist now?"

"No. But if I get caught up in something, it'll hinder me."

Melissa looked at the ground, more serious now. "Sean…after talking to you dad, I think I understand now."

"Do you?" Sean was unmoved.

"Yeah. It was your mom, wasn't it?"

Sean didn't answer.

"When she died, you went into a kind of shell and hid there. I can understand what it's like to lose someone. When my parents divorced I never thought I'd see my dad or my brother again. I, too, went into a shell, vowing to never come back. And you know what that accomplished?"

"What?"

"Nothing. I got nowhere. I didn't move on. I just stayed in that spot of my life for the longest time. After a while, I realized it was getting me nowhere. I finally came out of that shell and you know what? It really helped. I was stronger, healthier, happier, whatever. I was better. Maybe it's time you came out of your shell too."

"Melissa, I really don't want to talk about it."

She sighed. "Alright. But try to enjoy yourself tonight, alright?"

"I'm trying." He admitted.

"Then stop glancing around the room every two seconds."

"Anything can happen."

"Let it. We'll take care of it."

Sean sighed. "So what exactly am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to concentrate on who you're dancing with."

"Alright." Sean said. He turned his gaze to her and looked into her eyes. Those eyes again. They held so much memory.

"Do I really look like your mother did?" Melissa asked.

Sean thought about the question for a moment. "It's in your eyes...I apologize if that seems awkward."

"It's alright. Is that why you were so desperate to save me in the desert?" The question hit home.

"I don't know. I don't know why I do a lot of the things I do."

"I see." She was silent for a moment. Sean kept dancing with her, still unsure.

"Um…" Sean began, but stopped.

"What?"

For the first time, he looked nervous. "Am I…am I doing alright?"

"You actually care?"

"When I do something, I try to get it done right."

"Oh…well, yes, you are. Pretty good for your first time."

"Mm…good. Thanks."

"You enjoying yourself?"

He hesitated. "I guess. It's alright. It's new."

"Well, that's a start. Now let's work on that smile."

"I smile."

"Barely, and only when something goes right in battle!"

"Little amuses me anymore."

"Stick around, Sean. We'll show you a good time." A little later, the song ended. "Hey, what do you know? You danced and didn't burst into flame."

"Very funny." He rolled his eyes.

Hank held the picture in his hand. He hadn't seen it in a long time. It was his wedding picture with Anna. She looked so beautiful in that dress. He looked at another of the same day. There they were again, this time holding little Sean. He had to chuckle at how small he was.

Sean had changed so much…too much. He was a different person now than he was in that picture. Could Anna's death have really scarred him that much?

Hank put both pictures back in the box and closed it. He'd been looking through a couple boxes of Anna's old things that he'd kept. He stood up to leave, but his eye caught something. Another box he hadn't looked through yet. He wasn't sure he had the strength to go through another. He stood there for a moment, then gathered up his courage in a deep breath and moved over to the box.

Hank sat down and opened it. He moved the light over so he could see.

Huh. This was strange. He didn't remember any of this. He found an old notebook and opened it. It was full of strange symbols that he didn't understand. Anna must've written all this, but why would she write in such strange code?

He figured she must have been doodling or something and went on. There wasn't too much else in the box. A strange necklace with symbols similar to the ones in the notebook.

The biggest item was another cardboard box which was taped up tightly. On the side it read, "Do not open until I am gone". Anna had written it. Hank had never seen this before. What was in it? Well, eight years had passed since her death, so it was well okay to open it. He pulled out his pocket knife and cut through the tape. After disposing of it all, he opened the package.

Inside, were two strange discs each about six inches in diameter. Each had a taped sign on it. One said Hank, the other said Sean. He put down Sean's and looked at his own. It had a few buttons on it, so one of them must do something. He turned his light a little and saw a little black arrow drawn in marker pointing to one of the buttons. He pushed it and the device came to life. Rings of green light were wrapped around it and a little red scanner appeared and scanned his eyes, then shut off. The green lights turned blue and the disc hummed. Hank put it down in a bit of fear and stood up.

The top mound began to split and open. Little blue lights flew out of it and swarmed together, seeming to make something. The something got bigger and bigger until it was almost Hank's height. They continued to mold and finally produced a perfectly clear image. It was a woman with long silver hair, shimmering eyes and a beautiful smile.

"Hey there." Her majestic voice spoke.

Hank could hardly believe it. "A-Anna!"

Meanwhile, the dance had heated back up again and the most of the students were in full swing.

Sean, of course, was not. He was out in the concessions area, just watching people go by. A few moments later, Melissa came out, followed by a group of tall, tough-looking guys. Sean noticed they were following too closely by the uncomfortable look on Melissa's face. He quickly found out why.

"C'mon, baby." One guy said, seeming to be the leader. "Just one dance."

"I said no." Melissa replied.

"Why not?"

She turned to him. "Do you think I'm that naïve, Brandon! I know what you _really_ want. You're hoping to get in my pants tonight, aren't you?"

Brandon looked at his gang, then back at her. "Well, if you wanna get right to it…" He laughed.

Melissa shook her head. "You make me sick." She turned away again.

"Aw, c'mon." Brandon pressed on. "You know you want it."

"Not really." Melissa responded, not turning around.

"Yeah, sure. C'mon back here." She kept going. "Hey!" He grabbed her wrist and turned her. "I said-"

Sean grabbed Brandon's wrist and twisted it. "And _she_ said no, so I suggest you back off and find some other girl in which to fulfill your lusts." He let him go. Brandon rubbed his wrist.

"You're that new kid, aren't you?"

"I am."

"Well, I suggest you step down, tough guy. This is none of your business."

"Oh, trust me." Sean responded, crossing his arms. "It is."

Brandon looked at him, then at Melissa. "Oh, I see." He said. "She's _your_ skank."

Sean shot his arm out and Melissa collided into it. Had it not been there, she would have surely torn him apart.

"Let me at him!" Melissa demanded.

"Stay back, Melissa." Sean said calmly.

Brandon had to laugh. "What? You think she's gonna hurt me?"

"If I let her, she'd tear your head off."

"I'm sure." Brandon said dryly. "But anyway, since you're new, I'm gonna ask you nicely once more: Step down…unless you're ready to die."

Sean gave him a look. "Am I supposed to be intimidated?"

Brandon shook his head. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, but I _own_ this school." Everyone was starting to gather around, watching them. "I do what I want and take what they won't let me have." He stepped up close. "That includes females. If you're going to stand in my way, I'm just gonna take what I want."

"I don't want to fight you."

"You shouldn't, because I'm itching to break every bone in your body."

Sean's eyes narrowed. "You don't know me very well, so I'm going to ask you nicely once more: Back off."

The crowd they'd attracted was stunned at Sean's boldness.

Brandon shook his head. "Boy, you are just itching to die, aren't you?"

Sean sighed. "I was hoping to avoid this, but if you are so insistent on fighting, them maybe it's the only way I can teach you some respect."

Brandon got right up in his face. "Alright, then. Let's go, pretty boy."

WHAM! Sean's head rammed into Brandon's face, knocking him to the ground. He sat there, dazed for a second, and then wiped the blood off his face. "YOU!"

Sean nearly fell over as he was shoved out the front doors.

"And stay out!" The teacher yelled back at him. Sean turned around and looked as the teacher slammed the doors behind him. Melissa came out instantly afterwards, soon followed by the rest of the gang.

"What on earth happened!" Mike wanted to know.

"Sean beat the snot out of Brandon and his buddies, so the teacher threw him out." Melissa explained.

"It's about time someone did." Robert said. "I'm just sorry it wasn't me."

"And by the way." Melissa turned to Sean. "You don't have to defend me, you know."

"I was defending _him_!" Sean explained. "But then he pinched a nerve, so I let him have it."

"How bad was it?" Ben asked.

Melissa went over it in her head. "Seven black eyes, five fat lips, four busted noses, several broken or sprained fingers, and a lot of blood."

"How many guys were there?" Brittany asked.

"Six."

"Wow." More than one person said.

"Yeah." Melissa turned to Sean. "So you got to fight after all. Happy?"

He shrugged. "Eh. It's more fun when you're saving the human race, but it was alright."

"So now what?" Brad asked.

"You guys should go on back." Sean said. "They didn't kick you all out, just me."

"But we don't want you to just hang out by yourself." Christie explained. "We'll keep you company."

"No, you don't have to."

"But we _want_ to. It's called 'friendship'."

Sean sighed. "You're sure?"

"Yeah." They all agreed.

"Okay…what should we do?"

"It's only seven thirty." Brad said, referring to his watch. "We have a lot of time."

They all thought for a moment.

"Too dark to practice." Ben said.

"Nothing good at the movies." Robert added.

"Not many interesting places open for much longer." Brittany put in.

"Well, we could hang out at someone's house." Brad decided.

"Good idea." Christie concurred. "But whose?"

"Who's up for seeing Sean's place?" Melissa suddenly asked. Everyone's hand went up.

"What?" Sean asked.

"They haven't seen your place yet and you need to break into the friendship business, so let us hang out with you."

Sean scratched the back of his head. "Um…okay, I guess. Follow me."

He led the gang from the school all the way to his house. He opened the door.

"Well, here it is." He said. "Nothing too fancy, but we call it home." He stepped in and everyone followed. "Hey, Dad?" He called. "Brought some people over, is that okay?" No response.

"You probably gave him a heart attack." Melissa said.

"Ha, ha." Sean replied. "Dad? Hey! Where are ya?" He flipped on lights as he went. He looked around, but his dad was nowhere to be found. "Huh. Strange." He opened a door, revealing stairs leading up. He ascended and the others followed.

As he went up, Sean heard someone speaking. It was a woman's voice.

"Who could that be?" Sean whispered in confusion.

"Maybe he has someone over?" Ben guessed.

"I highly doubt it." Sean said. "And what would they be doing in the attic?" he trotted up the stairs and turned to see who it was. He froze.

The Dragoons walked up and had to stare as well. Hank was standing, staring at the hologram in front of him.

"No way." Sean whispered.

"What?" The Dragoons asked.

"That hologram…it's Anna!"

"Who?" Robert asked.

"Shh!" He wanted to listen to the hologram's words.

"…and again, I'm sorry I lied." Anna was finishing. "I only hope you can understand. I love you…goodbye." The hologram disappeared and the disc stopped glowing. Hank stood, immobilized for the longest time.

"So…" He said, finally. "You knew she wasn't human?"

Sean didn't know what to say. He was caught. After all these years, he finally knew.

"Well?" Hank demanded.

"Yeah." Sean answered. "I knew."

Hank turned and looked at him. His eyes burned with anger. "Tell me the truth."

Sean hesitated.

"I want to hear it from your mouth. Tell me the truth, son. Tell me about the real Anna…and the real you."

Sean was surprised at how much that last part hurt him.

"Who are you?" Hank demanded. "All these secrets…all these lies…tell me the truth!"

"We should leave." Melissa said.

"No. Stay." Sean said. "I don't want to have to tell this story twice."

The Dragoons looked at each other, then at Sean. Finally, they'd get some answers.

Sean took a deep breath, then looked back at the Dragoons and began his story.

"First of all," he began, "Anna wasn't my real mother. My biological mom died giving birth to me. When I was six, dad started dating again and he found someone: Anna. One night, he invited her over for dinner, and also to meet me. She was a nice woman; very kind to me and I could tell that my dad liked her a lot. But something caught my eye: she wore a strange necklace." Sean held his Dragoon Spirit up. "This was it."

"Wait." Ben stopped him. "You mean that person you said who gave you the spirit…was Anna?"

"It was."

"Then she's the one who trained you?" Melissa added.

"Indeed."

"Continue the story." Hank demanded. Sean did.

"Well, I was absolutely fascinated by her necklace, so she let me hold it for a minute. When I did, it glowed in my hands. I, being six, was amazed simply by the glowing. But Anna was astonished. I understand now. After all, how could a little kid be a Dragoon?

"When dad was cooking, Anna stayed out with me. She had to keep checking, to make sure that she wasn't imagining things. Sure enough, I was the Dragoon. But how on earth could she EVER explain it? I was six! I could never understand!" He sighed. "But, as you know, she wasn't human. She was a wingly, and therefore could use magic. She was pretty good at it, too. She conducted a spell on my brain. It expanded its ability far beyond my current years. It changed everything. I could think like an adult could…better, actually. That effect still lingers on me today."

"That would explain a lot." Melissa noted.

"Indeed it does." Hank agreed, still angry. "And then, she explained everything, correct?"

"Correct. She told me all about my Dragoon powers, my calling, the history of the Dragoons, everything. I couldn't believe how well I understood her. It was like a door was opened in my mind.

"But she made one thing certain about all this: no one could know. Things could get crazy in more ways than either of us wanted to know. So, I kept it a secret." He looked at his dad. "Even from you."

"For ten years." Hank snorted. "Well done."

Sean bit his lip, turned to the Dragoons, and continued. "Anna continued dating dad and later, they married. Anna and I could train more frequently now. She only taught me magic for a while. I was still way too young to know how to wield a blade. For several months we trained."

"Behind my back." Hank put in.

"It wasn't like that." Sean returned.

"Yes it was." His words burned. "But I want to know one thing more than anything else: how did Anna die? That waterfall story is a lie. Anna was a wingly, so she could fly away. How did she really die?" His face seemed like a dam that was about to break.

Sean's face turned grim, more than usual. He hesitated.

"ANSWER ME!" Hank blasted. Sean looked at him.

"Anna's death…was much more admirable." Now, he was telling both parties new information. "Being a Dragoon means you have enemies. While Anna and I were training in the woods, we were attacked by a very powerful foe. Anna fought him with all his might, but he struck her down. But with her last strength, Anna defeated him." He looked at his father. "Anna was murdered by an enemy no one could stop. Yet she did it. She died honorably."

"But she still died." Hank noted in a low tone. "All because of THAT!" He jabbed his finger at Sean's Dragoon Spirit.

"Anna and I both made our own choices in this matter."

"So you _chose_ to lie to me." Sean couldn't reply to that. "I knew something happened to you. I just thought you were remorseful about Anna's death, but it was more. As the days passed, you grew more and more distant. You weren't yourself anymore. You were something else!"

"I'm still the same person." Sean retaliated. "I'm still your son."

Hank shook his head. "No. My son is gone." He pointed to Sean. "You took him from me." He walked past Sean and the Dragoons and walked down the steps. Sean stayed in the same position, motionless for the longest time.

"Now you know." Sean said. "You can leave now." They all did. Sean didn't know where to go from here. His father's last words dug deep and stung hard.

But how had he known? That hologram. Sean walked over and looked at it. It was some sort of hologram projector, he figured; a wingly tool. On its side, there was a label with his father's name on it. Anna had left it there for him to find. Where had he found it? A box was open and Sean looked in.

Sean searched through the items, marveling at each one. In notebooks, there were words in wingly letters, a language Sean had learned to decipher from a young age. Most of it was all records or notes, mostly on Sean's progress. He found other interesting writings as well, but they were for his father, who couldn't read it.

Memories came back at Sean, memories he wasn't happy with. Other than the notebooks, there were a couple strange artifacts, wingly-looking items. Probably mementos. Other than that, there wasn't much, at least nothing his father could make out. But then, lying outside the box, was another, smaller box that had been opened already. On the side, it read "Do not open until I am gone." That would get his father's attention.

Sean picked up his father's hologram disk and started to put it back in the box when he found another disk. This one had his name on it. Sean pulled it out and looked at it. He soon knew how to work it. His thumb hovered over the "on" button. Did he dare? He stared down at the disk, contemplating whether or not to activate it for a seemingly endless time.

At length, he put everything away except for his own disk. That, he took with him to his room opened his nightstand drawer, dropped it in, and slammed it shut.

He didn't need any more trouble.

AUTHORS' NOTE: So Sean's past is revealed, but what of Anna's hologram to him? What message does it contain? How will Hank and Sean cope after this encounter? Those questions to be answered in the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews everybody reviews, everybody. We love 'em and keep 'em coming, por favor!


	9. Far From Home

QUICK NOTES: To Lavitz44: Sean doesn't fully transform because he doesn't need to. He only whips out the best stuff in battles where it is ultimately necessary. Until then, he stays on low power, which is strong enough.

Dragoon Swordsman: That scene happened in FF8? Well, neither I nor Spike has played that game, so we didn't know. shrug

LionHeart5488: About the arrow thing…my bad :S

* * *

Chapter Nine: Far From Home

"Sean…Sean, wake up!"

Sean's eyes fluttered open. Sleep had not come easily for him this night, so he was unhappy about being awakened.

"What?" He grumbled.

"Get up!"

Sean suddenly recognized the voice. He rolled over and saw Melissa standing over him.

"Melissa? What are you doing here?"

"I think you'd better take a better look at where 'here' is."

He sat up and looked around. He wasn't in his house.

Heck, he wasn't in _any_ human house! The structure was too odd, and yet it seemed somewhat familiar, like he'd seen it before.

"Where are we?"

"That's what we'd like to know."

"We?" Sean looked again. The other guys were on different beds all around the large room.

"The girls are all awake downstairs." Melissa explained. "We hoped you could explain it to us."

"I'm not sure." Sean admitted. He was about to get up when he caught a second glance of her. "What are you wearing?"

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it came as a shock to me too." She had black outfit covering herself. It was unlike anything Sean had ever seen. "But I couldn't exactly walk around in what I wore when I went to bed. Still, I feel violated."

Sean looked at himself and found similar silver robes on him. They were very light. When he stood, he found he could move around in them very easily. It would make fighting easier. Black boots also covered his feet. The outfit looked very professional, a little too professional to be human-crafted. Sean checked for his Dragoon Spirit. He had it, but…

"Where's my sword?"

"I couldn't find my rapier either."

"Doesn't make sense." Sean said. "Take our weapons, but leave our spirits?"

"Maybe they didn't know what they do?" Melissa guessed.

"Maybe. Look, you go back downstairs. I'll wake the guys and we'll meet you down there."

"Alright." She turned away, and then stopped. "Sean?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

Sean didn't like the question. "I'm fine. Go on."

As it turned out, each Dragoon was clothed in a garment matching the color of their Dragoon Spirit. The guys were filled with questions, but Sean didn't have many answers. The way of transportation up and down stairs was a very non-human device: A teleportation pad. It was a green circle in the corner of the room. The guys stepped on it and it teleported them to the lower level.

"Well," Brittany said, "We're not in Kansas anymore!"

"Ya think?" Robert played along.

"So does anybody have any idea where we are?" Christie asked.

"I don't know specifically, but I can tell you this city isn't human."

"Ya think?" Robert repeated, pointing out the window. Sean nodded. He'd seen it too. The small city was not towering with skyscrapers and office buildings like a human city would. It was composed of mostly relatively small places, about the size of normal houses. And they were fashioned in a way humans never could. In the distance there seemed to be a strange palace. But the thing that threw off the human-city theory was the fact that the creatures going around were not humans.

They were humanoid, but all had silver hair and silver wings of light. Some walked, but others flew. They were just going about their lives.

"What are they?" Brad asked.

"Winglies." Sean replied. "This is a wingly city."

"Seriously?" Ben asked.

"That does explain the architecture of this place."

"Winglies," Melissa considered. "But…how did we get here?"

As if on cue, the door suddenly opened. All eyes spun, ready to fight if necessary. It was a wingly woman. She seemed harmless enough.

"Ah, good." She said. "You're all awake."

Sean walked over to her. "Who are you, how did we get here, and why are we here?"

"I am Caron, we brought you here, and the third question will be answered by Miss Charle."

"Charle?" Sean repeated in disbelief. "Who?" Ben asked.

"Melbu Frahma's sister."

"Melbu Frahma?" Brad asked. "Isn't that the dictator wingly who tried to kill the Dragoons?"

"The same."

"You seem awfully calm about seeing his sister!"

"She's nothing like him." Sean explained. "She helped the Dragoons on a few occasions."

"Oh…"

"Please, come with me." Caron requested. Sean went right away. The other Dragoons looked at each other, and then followed.

The other winglies were surprised to see not only humans, but Dragoons! They all watched as the eight proceeded.

The wingly city was absolutely beautiful. Winglies had been known for their beautiful designs. The architecture was something no human could ever hope to accomplish. Caron led them through the glistening streets, across fine stone bridges over flowing, crystalline water. Lush, full trees of beautiful green leaves could be seen here and there and in greater quantities in the distance. The Dragoons were led up stairs to higher levels, leading to a grand palace of a home. They entered the building and made their way around the giant place until they finally entered two double doors, leading to a large dining area. The table was line with food and at the head, sat the many-millennia old, but still elegant, Charle Frahma.

"Welcome!" She greeted the Dragoons. "Welcome! Come, sit and eat!" She gestured towards the table. They all took their places around the table, but were hesitant. "Go on!" She encouraged. "Eat!"

"How do we know you didn't poison it or something?" Robert put in.

"You don't." Charle said, honestly. "But even if I did, Robby, Christie could heal you, couldn't she?" Rob couldn't argue with that. Besides, the food was tempting. They all began eating, all except Sean.

"What's going on, Charle?" Sean asked.

"Always so upfront." She sighed, still with a smile. "Calm down, the answers will come."

"They'll come here and now." Sean countered.

Charle chuckled. "Alright, then" She propped her elbows on the table, crossed her hands together and rested her chin on them. "What do you want to know?"

"For starters, how did we get here?"

"And what's with the outfits?" Brittany added.

"And where are our weapons?" Ben put in.

"We brought you here as you are, and those who understand humans understand that the clothes they wear at night usually aren't appropriate for daytime activities, so we dressed you in our own garments."

"And our weapons?" Sean asked.

"We've sent others to go for them, and they should be here later today, along with your clothing, but I invite you all to stay here for the day to prepare."

"Prepare for what?" Melissa asked.

Charle pushed back her food. "Honestly, I don't fully know."

"And what exactly does that mean?" Sean asked, remaining calm.

"We don't have any solid details other than this one fact: Something is coming." The Dragoons looked at each other.

"Yes." Sean said. "I've felt it."

"Then you have an idea of why we call you here. We are not sure what it is, but I feel that it is greater than the winglies."

"Do you have any idea what it might be?" Christie asked.

"No, but I do know where it's coming from: The Death City, Mayfil."

Sean's eyes narrowed. "Figures."

"What's Mayfil?" Mike asked.

"Hell on Earth, some call it. It was once a city where the winglies were able to send souls to the Infernal World."

"They…could do that?" Brittany asked, eyes wide.

"No longer." Charle assured. "Well…"

"Well, what?" Brad asked.

"Here's the situation: Mayfil was destroyed centuries ago, and thus, its power was shut down. But now, the city is alive again. It's not sending souls away like the winglies of old made it do, but the same evil is floating around." Charle shook her head. "Only a creature of great evil could awaken such darkness."

Sean thought about it. "How long ago did the city regain its power?"

"We did not feel it until around fifteen years ago, but it's been alive for some time since."

He thought some more.

"Once the city is brought to life, could it still be operated even without its igniter?"

"I believe so. Why? Do you have an idea of what happened?"

Sean nodded. "Zachwell."

A chill seemed to sweep the room with that name.

"I'm a little afraid to ask," Brittany admitted, "But who or what is Zachwell?"

"A demon among demons." Charle muttered darkly. "An infinitely foul creature. He is said to be the most vile and horrid thing to ever walk this earth."

"What about Melbu Frahma?" Melissa asked.

"Melbu was powerful," Charle said. "But Zachwell's soul-if you can call it that-is infinitely darker. He was said to be gone when the Dragoons defeated him centuries ago. But, Sean, you say he is alive?"

"He is, but not a threat to us."

"How do you know?"

Sean hesitated and leaned his chin on his hands. "He killed someone dear to me."

"Anna." Melissa said. "He's the demon, wasn't he?"

Sean nodded.

"Anna?" Charle asked.

"My step-mother. She was a wingly."

Charle's eyebrows rose. "Indeed? Amazing!"

"She used her powers to lock Zachwell away in a world of light; he can't hurt us anymore." The Dragoons were silent, remembering the feud they'd experienced between Sean and his father. "Anyway," Sean continued, "I figured Zachwell could start it and someone else continuing it."

"It would work." Charle agreed. "But we still must find out who it is."

"And whoever it is, it's very powerful, correct?" Ben asked.

"Correct."

"So what do we do?" Mike asked.

"Simple." Sean said. "We go to Mayfil and defeat the evil before it gets out."

"Simple indeed." Brittany rolled her eyes.

"But we shouldn't go until we have our weapons back." Sean said.

"So, what, we stick around here for a day?"

"Yeah."

"One question:" Mike brought up. "Our parents aren't exactly going to be cool with us disappearing suddenly."

"Don't worry." Charle assured. "We've sent decoys to play in your place until you return."

"Wow, you really though this out." Robert said with a monotone voice. "But, uh, what if we die?"

"You won't."

"So confident." He noted. "Such reassurance."

"Alright." Charle said. "Any more questions?"

The Dragoons looked at each other.

"No? Alright, then. Let's eat."

BOOM! The doors burst open and a familiar man strode into the room.

"Just what in the world is going on here!"

Charle looked at him. "Who might you be?" She asked politely.

"Hank McMann." He pointed to Sean. "His father."

A wingly came in behind him, out of breath. "He…he already knew." The wingly panted. "He demanded…I take him…to his son."

"Got that right." Hank said. He looked at Sean. "Hiding more from me?"

"I woke up here." Sean returned. "I didn't know this place existed until twenty minutes ago."

Hank looked at the wingly decoy, who nodded. He calmed a little. "Does anybody wanna tell me just where this place is and what we're all doing here?"

"I summoned your son and his friends." Charle explained. "I need them to defeat and uncertain evil dwelling in a dark city run by the demons."

Hank cocked his head a little.

"We're going to save the world." Brad explained.

"Ah…and, uh, how are you going to do that?"

"Dragoon Spirits." Melissa said.

"So…you guys are just gonna…throw yourselves into some unknown danger?"

"Yep." Rob said.

"But…how…and why?"

"We haven't worked out how," Sean said, "but as to why, we do this because we're the only ones who can."

Hank considered this. "And what are the odds you'll come back alive?"

Sean shook his head. "I don't know. But Charle and I suspect that whatever it is out there is very powerful."

Hank didn't like it.

"You can't stop me." Sean said, defiantly.

"I know." His father replied. "So I'm not even going to try." He turned and walked away, running his hand through his hair, frustrated.

* * *

After breakfast, Sean told the Dragoons they were going to train. As they left, Caron stopped Sean.

"You said Anna was your step-mother?"

"She was." Sean said.

"Incredible coincidence. She was a dear friend of mine. But…she's dead?"

"Killed by Zachwell's hands."

She looked remorseful, then chuckled. "It figures it would take such a powerful demon to defeat her."

Sean nodded. "She gave him a hard time."

"Anna was out and about one day when she found that Dragoon Spirit you are wearing. She said she wanted to go out into the world and find its owner. It seemed she found a family as well."

Sean didn't know what to say.

"Well, I'm sorry for your loss." Caron said.

"It's alright. I'm over it."

She nodded. "Alright then. Farewell."

Sean returned the gesture and she left.

"You're over it?" Sean turned and saw his father. "You sure?"

Sean thought for a little while. "I don't know." They were silent.

"Sean, listen." Hank said. "What I said last night…I didn't-"

"You were right, dad. You were right. I did take your son from you. I transformed him into this hard, defensive, fighting machine he is today. I'm not the son you knew."

Hank shook his head and put his hands on Sean's shoulders. "No matter what transformation you undergo, no matter how many secrets you withhold from me, you will ALWAYS be my son."

Sean looked at the ground.

"And up goes the shield." Hank sighed. "What's the deal? Can't you just tell me?" Sean thought long and hard, and then he did. He told his father everything. Sean hadn't confessed anything to his father since he could remember. It was a strange feeling. The words just flowed.

Hank and Sean were both silent for the longest time. Finally, Hank had to chuckle.

"You laugh?" Sean noticed, a bit hurt.

"Sorry, it's just…I get it now. I used to stare at you and just wonder what was going on in your head. Now, I know. Even if I can't fix it, I'm alright as long as I at least know the reason as to why you are."

Sean shrugged.

"Hey, Sean!" Melissa called. "We found a good place to train! C'mon!"

Hank looked at her and then at Sean. "Maybe she can help you."

Sean looked at her. "Maybe."

* * *

The Dragoons spent the day training as Dragoons, learning new techniques and uses for their abilities. In the mid-afternoon, the Dragoons received their weapons and a change of clothes, but they decided to stay in the wingly outfits until tomorrow. Hank was amazed at the kids' fighting abilities.

During the evening meal, they were dining with Charle again. Suddenly, the doors opened and a younger-looking wingly stepped in.

"Good evening, Ma'am." He said.

"Why have you left your post?" Charle asked. She turned to the Dragoons. "Michael, he was your decoy."

"I left as a result of circumstances beyond my or anyone's control." He looked at the Dragoons. "Michael, Melissa, may I speak to you two privately?"

The siblings looked at each other, then got up and followed the wingly.

"As I was saying," Charle continued, "We can teleport you all tomorrow with our long-rang transporter. It will take a good accumulation of powers, so many winglies will be focusing to transport all eight of you."

"And what about me?" Hank asked.

"We'll recover and transport you home."

"You didn't think you were coming, did you, Dad?" Sean asked him.

"Well, no, but I want to know what's going on. Any way I can still see what's going on?"

"I'm afraid not." Charle said. "You'll just have to trust that Sean will return."

"And by the way, Dad." Sean said. "You can't tell anyone about our Dragoon powers."

"I guessed, but why not?"

"The world isn't ready, plain and simple."

Hank shrugged. "Whatever."

"Feel free to wander about the city," Charle said. "You'll be sleeping in the same place tonight. Hank, we've created an extra bed for you."

"Thanks."

They soon finished eating and walked about the city for the rest of the night. The sun set quickly as the group split up and went all over.

Brad had been wandering around the city, just admiring the place when he found someone.

"Hey, Mike!" He said. Mike was sitting on one of the small bridges, just staring at the water below. He looked up at Brad, then back down. Brad sensed distress. "What's up?" No reply. He thought about it. "What did the decoy tell you?" Mike looked away. Brad sat down next to him. "Wasn't good news, was it?"

Mike shook his head.

"Wanna talk about it?"

He was hesitant, but he finally spoke. "My dad's dead."

Brad was taken back. He didn't know what to say other than, "How?"

"Got drunk again, then decided to go for a drive with his buddies. They went off the road and down a hill. Then, the car hit a tree. No one survived."

"I see…" Again, Brad was at a loss of words.

"That…idiot! What was he thinking!" His voice choked.

Brad looked down. There was a long silence. "So what now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what now? Where do you go?"

"According to the decoy, I have to go to my mom's now."

"Well…that's not so bad. I mean, you get to stay with Melissa."

Mike shook his head. "My mom and I aren't exactly on the best terms."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm still angry at her."

"Why?"

"She was the one to really break things up. Apparently, she couldn't stand living with an incompetent, ignorant man any longer. Bull. I later learned that a short while after the divorce, she was seen with another man already."

"Ouch."

"I never told dad. It would kill him." He hesitated at those words. "Not only that, but she was so fed up with my father that she refused visitation rights. I thought I'd never see Melissa again."

"But you did."

"Yeah, I did…anyhow, every time I happened to see my mom, she'd seem happy enough to see me, but I was never happy to see her. I much preferred my dad to her…of course, now I have no choice."

Brad looked at the water for a moment. He saw a couple ripples hit the water on Mike's reflection. Slowly, Brad reached his hand up and put it on Mike's shoulder.

"I wish there was something I could do to help."

Mike shook his head. "Just listening is enough." He shook his head and stood. "Can't let it get to me. We gotta fight tomorrow, you know?"

"Well, yeah, but, you know, it's natural to be distressed over a family death. In fact, if you aren't sad, well, you've got problems, usually."

Mike chuckled and wiped his face. "Thanks, Brad."

"Anytime, buddy." He shook his hand, and then gave him a hug.

* * *

Robert came into the home where the Dragoons were staying with a cloth bag in his hands. Brittany and Christie were sitting on their beds, talking.

"Hey." Rob said.

"Don't you mean, Lllaadiiees?" Brittany asked.

He gave her a look. "I haven't said that in weeks."

"…hey, you haven't…whatever. What's in the bag?"

"Charle let me stock up on healing items and stuff for free. I got a buncha stuff for the fight."

"How responsible and thoughtful of you." Christie noted. "What's going on?"

"What?"

"You're thinking of other people. Who are you trying to impress, the winglies?"

"No," He raised a brow. "I'm not trying to impress anyone. I just thought ahead, that's all."

Brittany looked out the window. "Holy cow, did a pig just fly by?"

Robert rolled his eyes. "Lay off."

Then, Melissa came in.

"Hey, Melissa!" Brittany said. "Pigs are flying!"

"What? Robert did something thoughtful?"

"What!" Robert exclaimed. The girls laughed.

"So, Melissa, what did the wingly tell you and Mike?" Christie asked.

Melissa's face grew remorse. "Our father's dead." Silence.

"Oh, Melissa, I'm so sorry." Christie stood and hugged her. Brittany joined in and they stayed like this for a second.

"Oh, wait, we shouldn't have a three-woman embrace." Brittany said. "Robert might attack us." The girls laughed again.

"Okay, that's it!" Robert said, throwing his arms in the air. "Look, I was a jerk back then, okay? I admit it and I'm sorry. I'm sorry being a selfish pinhead, I'm sorry for the cut-downs I gave you all, and I'm sorry for the derogatory comments on your bodies."

"Numerous as they were." Melissa said.

"I'm sorry. You're all very beautiful girls and don't deserve the crud I give you, now will you please stop judging me?"

"Wow." Brittany said. "He apologized."

"I'm out." He headed for the door as they laughed.

"Rob, wait." She stopped him. "We're sorry, it's just you DID give us a lot of crud."

"Yeah, I did. Again, sorry."

"But you're right. I've noticed you haven't made a sick comment in a while, or anything like that. You've really changed for the better."

"I figured I want you kicking the enemy's butt, not mine." He chuckled, the girls did to.

"But hey, you complimented us." Christie said. "That's new."

"I did?"

"You said we were beautiful."

"Oh…huh, barely noticed that…well, you are."

"Aww." Melissa joked. She walked over and hugged him. Robert hugged back awkwardly. "Yep, he's changed."

"Hmm?"

"You didn't try to grab my butt."

"Oh. Well, hey, that was a compliment too, you know, when I did do that. Meant you were hot."

"So were all your comments pathetic attempts to hit on me?"

"Yeah." Robert scratched the back of his head. "I, uh…kinda had a crush on you."

"You did?"

"Yep."

"Well…if you'd have just asked, I might have said yes."

"You would've?"

"Uh-huh…do you still have a crush on me?"

He thought about it. "Nah, not really, no offense. I'm not too hot for a girl who can kick my butt." They laughed. "Besides, you're kinda going for Sean, aren't you?"

She shrugged. "Kinda."

"Mm…well, good luck with that. If anyone can break that iron shell of his, I'm sure you can."

"Thanks. And you're cute." She kissed his cheek.

"Compliment and ask." Robert said, leaving. "Compliment and ask."

The girls chuckled.

"I'm gonna go find Sean." Melissa said. She left.

Brittany was getting bored and interested.

"Say, Christie. Wanna go boy-hunting?"

"Boy-hunting?"

"Yeah, we gals get to have our fun too, you know."

"Boy-hunting is not a game I play."

"Ah, c'mon! Don't tell me you're not interested in what Ben's doing!"

"Ben? Why?"

Brittany crossed her arms. "Yeah, right. You're interested in him."

Christie looked down, blushing. "Sorta."

"Then let's go see what he's up to!" She started leaving. Christie grabbed her shoulder.

"Wait! I don't know."

"What's the holdup?"

"Well…I don't even really know how he feels about me."

Brittany gave her a look. She was about to tell her about how Ben was head-over-heels for her, but then stopped, smiling.

"Well, there's only one way to find out!"

* * *

"Ben! Ol' buddy, ol' pal!" Brittany exclaimed.

Ben spun around. "Someone's perky."

"I'm always perky."

"Indeed you are." He rolled his eyes. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just hanging out with a friend." She strolled up next to him. "Whatcha thinkin' about?"

"Tomorrow, mostly. Kinda frightening."

"Mm. Maybe I can take your mind off the situation."

"I'd like that. What've you got?"

"Let's go find Christie. I'm sure you'd like to see her."

"Uh…Christie?"

"Yeah! We all know you're bonkers for her, right?" She emphasized the "right" so Christie, who was in hiding, could hear.

"Uh, well…well, yeah, but…"

"But what? C'mon, Ben! You've admired her from afar long enough. Why don't you just ask her out?" She was serious now.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"It's not that simple."

Brittany thought. "What, you worried about her dying right after you finally ask her out?"

"Well, yeah, but…" His voice trailed.

"What is it, Ben?"

"I…I don't know..."

Brittany sighed. "Ben, you're totally nuts about Christie. I know it's a big dream of yours to be with her. But odds are it's not going to happen unless you tell her yourself. Let her know how you really feel. I know she'll go out with you. What's holding you back?"

"It's just that…"

"I'm your friend, Ben. You can tell me."

He sighed. "Alright. It's like this. You're right. I've admired her from afar for a long time. I love everything about her. I mean, she's beautiful…"

"Care to elaborate?" Brittany said with a smirk, trying to get more info for Christie.

"Curious, are we?"

"Sure."

"Well…" he was blushing now. "I love her hair. The color is a perfect, shimmering brown and I love how she wears it, kinda short, a few strands hanging over her face. Her eyes are so cool, staring down into your soul, but not seeming intrusive at all. Her eyes are a calm caress of kindness whenever she looks at me. She's physically fit, a great athletic body, stunning long legs. Her skin is so smooth and soft it's almost like touching a feather. Her smile always causes mine to show up. Her lips radiate a constant glow that can pierce any darkness." Ben sighed. "She's the most beautiful girl in the world."

Brittany was stunned by Ben's description. "Wow." She whispered. "That's really good."

Ben went on. "But it's not just about the looks, of course. Christie is a living light. Her personality alone heals any sickness of the mind. She's the most kindhearted person I know, willing and able to help anyone and everyone she can. She wants other to be happy before she is. She has conflicts with no one at all, never daring to seriously hurt anyone or anything. I know she would rather sacrifice herself than see her friends harmed; she would gladly give her life for anyone. She's never downhearted either. She always has that bright, positive attitude that can lift anyone off the ground and encourage them to continue their journey. Just being around her is a joy to anybody." He smiled. "She's perfect…I love her."

Again, Brittany was stunned. He really loved her.

"But that's the problem." Ben continued. "She is perfect in every way…at least that's how I picture her. I picture her standing there with a smile on her face and the world is aglow because of her, shining bright and full of life." His smile faded. "But when I try to put myself in the picture, next to her…the picture…seems to dim. It's like her radiance is hindered by something…by me. I always see myself sort of in her way, unintentionally. My presence weakens the picture…weakens her. I take away from it."

Brittany shook her head. "Ben, that's ridiculous. You don't take away from Christie."

"Not yet." He said. "But I dare not try." He turned and walked away, leaving Brittany in disbelief. She turned and walked to Christie, who was sitting down, also shocked.

"He elevates me to a level I do not deserve." Christie whispered.

"Well…he did describe you pretty accurately."

"But he gives himself no credit." A tear was starting to make its way down her cheek.

"You should talk to him."

Christie shook her head. "He will hide the facts of his feelings. He will not tell me the truth."

"You don't need him to tell you." Brittany pointed out. "You already know."

* * *

"Hiya." Melissa greeted Hank upon passing him. "Do you know where Sean went?"

"Nope, sorry. Odds are he went off somewhere to be alone."

"Always so solitary."

"Yeah."

Melissa wondered. "How long has he been like this?"

Hank snorted. "I hardly remember him otherwise. After Anna died, he was real sad, of course, but that then turned into solid remorse. Then he just kind of put up a barrier around himself and wouldn't come out. He grew more and more distant, not wanting to do the things he used to. He isolated himself from me and everyone else. He seldom talked, much less laughed. I thought I'd lost him." He looked at her. "How did you meet him?"

"Helped me take care of a couple of thugs. Not that I couldn't have handled them on my own. He told me he knew the secret to my necklace, so he brought me to the others, showing us all our powers. From then on, he was our instructor, up until school started."

"Strict?"

"Not necessarily. He was very calm and grim. You did things and you did them right, or else you did them again, that simple. He really taught us well, I think; he was a good teacher, but when practice ended, he shut himself up from the world. The rest of us would always have fun and talk, but he'd remain silent and stern. At times, it seemed like he was _trying_ to avoid conversation."

"Been there. The kid seems to go out of his way to avoid people."

"I know. I just wish I could understand it."

Hank nodded. "Why don't you ask him?"

"Like he'd tell me."

"He told me."

"What? He did?"

"He did."

"Well, what did he say?"

Hank shook his head. "I don't think I should tell you. You should ask him yourself."

Melissa sighed. "Well, you're his father, of course he might tell you, but me?"

"He'll talk."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know my son. He wants you to help him. He just doesn't know how to say it."

* * *

After talking to Ben, Brittany began thinking about Brad again. All that talk trying to convince Ben to admit his feelings to Christie wondered if she should do the same to Brad. A wingly told her that was atop the roof of their "hotel," as it were. She climbed the stairs and saw him lying on his back, staring up at the sky. He was a handsome one, no doubt. She smiled upon seeing him, but he hadn't yet seen her, which gave her a playful idea.

She slid up behind him and put her hands over his eyes. "Guess who!"

He smiled and felt her hands. "Let's see. Feminine voice, soft hands, playful attitude, hello Brittany."

She laughed and lay down next to him. "Whatcha doing?"

"Just admiring the sky." She looked up with him. It was an unusually beautiful night. Well, in Ulara, it was always like this, but in the human worlds, it was a rarity. The stars were unbelievably numerous, even the smallest were able to be seen. The moon was full and glowing. The night sky was a sea of beauty.

"It's very pretty." She said.

"It is." Brad agreed. "You don't get to see this kind of stuff back home."

"I guess this is one of the perks of being a Dragoon, seeing places and things like this."

"Yeah." Brad thought. "Do you regret becoming a Dragoon?"

"Mm, not really. I feel good that we're doing something worthwhile."

"I know. Up until I met Sean, I felt like my life was just sort of wasting away. Now I feel I have a purpose in this world."

"I see. We Dragoons lead interesting lives."

"Do we ever."

Brittany was quiet for a minute. "Plus, I've made a bunch of new friends."

Brad gave a smile. "Yeah, me too."

"They're a cool bunch. I mean, Sean's all uptight, but he'll get over it. Ben's cool, Mike's great, Robert's learning. And then there's this Brad guy. I don't know about him."

Brad laughed. "Yeah, same with those, but I got a couple more. These three hot chicks. Melissa's the real kick-butt type. Christie is the kind-hearted one. And then, there's this Brittany girl."

"Mm-hm?" Brittany smirked. "What about her? She a sexy knock-out?"

"Oh, yeah, a real looker. She's a little wild, but she's a lot of fun."

They both chuckled, and then were quiet again.

"Look at the moon." Brad said. She did. "Over 800 years ago, there was another one, only much larger. The Moon That Never Sets."

"Part of the Virage Embryo."

"I know. I love that story."

"You were always fascinated by the supernatural."

"It always helped me escape my dull reality."

"You can't say that anymore, can you? Your life is just a little more exciting now, isn't it?"

"Yeah, just a little." He chuckled. "But things like this are still amazing. I can hardly believe it's all true, even though I'm living it now."

Another silence. "You worried about tomorrow?" Brittany finally asked.

"Terrified."

"Not even gonna be all macho about it?"

"Why lie? I'm scared to death. But you know what? I think we have a chance."

"So do I." She looked up. "Shooting Star!"

"I see it!"

"Make a wish!"

"What?"

"Just do it."

He shrugged and thought. "Alright. Did it."

"Me too."

"What did you wish for?"

"Can't tell. It won't come true."

Brad rolled his eyes. "Well I wished we all come back safe tomorrow."

"Hey! Now it won't come true!"

"Sure it will." Brad replied. "We'll all make it happen."

Brittany nodded. "Indeed we will." And they got back to star gazing.

* * *

Christie found Ben coming out of a building, just looking around the city.

"Hi there." She said. Ben's eyes shot open.

"Oh! Hi." She walked over to him.

"What's up?"

"Ah, nothing. Just, you know, looking around."

"Having fun?"

"Of course."

"Good." They were quiet. Finally, Ben spoke.

"Hey, Christie, uh…do you, uh…do you wanna, um…would you…do you think you…want to…" He gestured with his hands.

"Go for a walk?" She finished.

"Y-yeah! Yeah. Do you?"

"Of course." She responded.

"Cool, great." _I am such a loser._ He thought.

_He's cute when he tries._ Christie said to herself.

They began walking.

"Beautiful place." Christie said.

"Yeah." Ben responded, while looking at her. "Real beautiful."

"It's too bad we don't see more of these kinds of places anymore."

"I know. How can such beauty be forgotten? Ought to be a crime."

"Very nice."

"Hmm?"

"It's hard these days to find a man who appreciates beauty."

_Do I ever appreciate it._ Ben thought. "Um, thanks, I guess."

"It's a good thing. A lotta girls admire that." She tried hinting.

"You kidding?" He chuckled. "It's hard to find a girl who's not a total whore these days."

Christie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"I-I'm not indicating that you're one." Ben quickly corrected.

She nodded. "I know, Ben."

They stopped on a bridge and Ben leaned on the edge.

"The water is so pure." Ben said.

"Isn't it?" Christie leaned next to him, close. "You can see all the way to the bottom."

"That's a funny fish."

"Where?" She pressed closer against him to see.

"It's, uh…right there." He pointed.

"Mm."

Ben was definitely noticing her closeness now. He liked it, but…what was she getting at? Did she really…?

"Ahem, all the, uh, sparkles in the water. It's almost like it's…made of crystals."

"Yeah." Christie agreed. "Real beautiful." Her hand slipped under his arm and touched his fingers. Ben froze. She slid her fingers in further and ended up holding his hand. Ben looked at her and Christie looked up at him, the crystalline water reflecting onto her smooth face. Her eyes shimmered like never before.

"Christie…" Ben whispered, his head leaning close to hers.

"Yes?" She beckoned, also moving in.

Her hair brushed his face. As they felt each other's breathing. Their lips brushed.

Ben suddenly pulled back, releasing her hand and looked back at the water.

Christie looked down. "Ben…don't you like me?"

Ben looked up at her. "Brittany tell you?"

"I heard everything, Ben."

His eyes perked.

"I heard your description of how you felt for me, and your inaccurate description of yourself."

Ben looked back at the water. "Is it so inaccurate?"

"Of course it is!"

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Every time I picture myself with you…it's like I take away from you." He lowered his head, so she couldn't see his face.

Christie gazed at him. "Ben, it's just the opposite. You add to my life every day."

He looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"Ben, you're a great person to be with. You have your own sort of glow yourself, you know."

He shook his head. "No, I don't."

"Yes, you do, Ben! I love being around you!"

Ben was shocked. "You do?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"I…well, I…"

"You're a great person to be with. You were the first guy I really met who wasn't a jerk. I've admired you ever since."

He blushed a little, looking down. Christie moved up against him again.

"That admiration grew into something else."

"Are…are you saying…?"

"I really like you, Ben. I want to go out with you. I want to be closer to you. I want to stand by you for as long as I can."

Ben didn't know what to say. "I…I…um…I…do you…um, would you like to…th-that is, uh…do you wanna…uh…"

"To-"

"I'll get it! Do you…would you…do…I, uh…you…agh!" He punched himself. "Do you wanna go get something to eat? Ow."

She chuckled. "Was that your way of asking me out?"

"I guess."

"Well, there aren't many places still open, probably, but yes, I'll go with you."

"Okay. Good."

"And FYI, you don't need to hit yourself every time you wanna talk to me."

"Yes I do." He assured. "I'll never be able to say anything otherwise."

She laughed.

* * *

Sean was atop the highest roof of Charle's palace, gazing up at the moon. Tomorrow all their training would be tested. Tomorrow, his own strength would be tested. Tomorrow…so much was tomorrow. So much was on his mind.

"You can win a few staring contests," Sean turned. It was Melissa. "but I think the moon will still beat you."

He gave a small smile, the same little grin she had always seen him give; the most he'd dare show.

"What are you doing up here?" Melissa asked him.

"I wanted to be alone."

"Oh," She said. "I'm sorry. I'll go."

"No, wait. I didn't mean it like that."

She turned back around. "You're usually found alone."

"It's how I am."

"Why?" Melissa asked. "Why is that?"

Sean looked back over the city.

"Why do you shut yourself up all the time? Why do you isolate yourself from everyone else? Why do you turn everyone away or turn away from everyone? Why do you strive to be alone!"

"Because it hurts less this way!" Sean said more forcefully than he'd intended.

Melissa was stunned that he'd actually spoken to her on the matter.

"What do you mean?"

Sean turned from her again, not wanting to look at her as he spilled his story, the same one he'd told his father, with some changes.

"I never knew my mother. She died before I even knew she existed. Because I never knew her, that wasn't a problem for me, too much. I mean, I later wondered about her, but nothing intense. It was an issue for Dad, though. He was real sad, from what I hear. But when I was five, he realized he could be the best father in the world to me, but I'd still need that motherly touch. For my sake, and his own, he began dating again, but, of course, there aren't too many girls who want to date a man with a kid."

"That does tend to scare us." Melissa chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. She failed.

"But then he met Anna. He met her at a baseball game. She said she never understood the sport."

"Well, she was a wingly."

"But Dad didn't know. So, he tried explaining. She soon understood how to play, but her main point was that she didn't understand _why_ they played. I mean, they get paid millions a minute while government officials get paid much less for doing much more important things. That one took a while for dad to explain. He finally just said 'Baseball players get paid more because everyone enjoys entertainment. But who likes politics?'."

Melissa laughed. "It's the truth!"

Sean nodded with a smile. "Anna laughed too…just like you did, in fact. She thought dad was funny, so she kept talking with him. One thing led to another and they got pretty close. They began dating and one day he brought her over for dinner. I liked her and she liked me. But more importantly," He held up the Dragoon Spirit. "The Divine Dragon liked me. Anna could hardly believe her luck. While dad was cooking, Anna stayed and talked to me. She put a spell on me, making me think like an adult."

"I remember." Melissa said. "It helped me understand some things about you. I always thought your brain was just a size bigger."

"Something like that." He said. "Anyway, she told me everything and we started our training." He stopped for a second. "You know, I later felt bad because I thought Anna only continued dating Dad because of me. But she reminded me that she'd decided to date him before even knowing I existed. I asked her why she'd dated him. After all, she should've continued searching the world for the Divine Dragoon. She said, 'I know I should've, but I couldn't help myself. He was just too cute!'."

Melissa laughed again. "Things can happen like that. And it's a good thing she did stop."

"I know. Well, she and Dad grew closer and closer until they finally married." For the first time, Melissa saw a little sparkle in Sean's eyes. "I was so happy that day. Whom I thought was the best woman in the world was finally going to be with us forever." A smile began sliding onto his face. "I loved Anna. She was a wonderful person to be around and a lot of fun. I considered her the mother I never had. Once I accidentally slipped up and called her 'Mom'. She was shocked, but honored, as well as touched.

"When it came to training, she wasn't too harsh, but she did make sure I learned. I could only learn magic for a while. She always talked about how she hated lying to my Dad, especially after they were married. I knew she loved him. She'd always thought that she'd marry a wingly, but was surprised how fast my father changed all that. While most women were turned off by the fact that he had a kid, she was impressed that he could carry me on for five years and started dating again mostly for my benefit. Dad told me he hadn't really been ready to date again until he met Anna."

Sean's smile had extended far past anything Melissa had ever seen. She dared not interrupt.

"Those two years with Anna…they were the best years of my life. I hoped they'd never end."

Finally, Sean's smile faded.

"But then…" He trailed off.

"Zachwell?" Melissa finished.

Sean nodded, and then shook his head.. "How did he know? How could he know? If I knew that answer, maybe I could have some peace." He took a deep breath. "Zachwell, he…"

"Sean, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No." Sean said. "I need to."

Melissa nodded.

"I remember that day I hit a record distance with my cannon. The Divine Dragon was slowly, but surely breaking me in. I didn't hurt much to perform attacks anymore, unless I strained too hard. Anna finally let me have a break. We sat on a rock to catch a breather. We trained in a place a lot like our clearing, but without a lake." Sean's tone became grave.

"Then he came. I remember the feeling. It was like a cold wind blew through the entire forest. But it wasn't an ordinary wind. It pierced the flesh and chilled the bones and froze your very spirit. Fear began to fall over me, but Anna comforted me. The wind blew harder and became an audible voice. It laughed at us and said we were fools. He said Anna should have never brought me into this.

"Anna demanded Zachwell show himself, so he did. He threatened to kill us both, but Anna pulled out the Dragon Buster and fought him. The sword gave her an edge, but not enough power to conquer the dark lord. I tried helping, but my attacks only irritated him. He blasted me back and I could no longer help her.

"After a while, I thought Anna had a chance, but then Zachwell pulled off a demonoid stunt. With his own blood, he unleashed a monster which poisoned Anna severely. Zachwell saw his victory at hand, but she surprised him. She sprung an attack and sealed him in the world of light, for him to suffer forever and ever." Sean's face grew pained.

"She could've used that magic to heal herself, but…the strain of attacking only hurt her more. I ran to her and wished to God that I could help her. She told me she couldn't help me anymore; that the Dragon would train me from there on out. Then she gave me one last request: Find them. Find the Dragoons. Then she died."

"And you did." Melissa reassured. "You found us."

"I did." He said. "I did." He looked down. "Anna was the closest a person had ever been to me other than my Dad. She was like…no, she really was my mother. When she died, it…it hurt so much. I never wanted to feel that pain again. But I couldn't prevent anyone from dying, I learned that from Zachwell. So I put up a wall. I refused to let anyone go near me again, as not to feel the pain when they should die. It worked. I lost touch with the world. I lost my feelings. I became numb, unable to feel anything at all. I forgot how to laugh, for got how to cry, forgot happiness. I became a grim fighter, who knew nothing but battle."

Melissa couldn't argue with that one.

"I don't want to be a grim fighter anymore." Sean said. "I want to remember laughter, I want to remember happiness…I even want to remember how to cry. I want to remember…emotion."

"You're already on your way." Melissa said. "You feel regret, remorse, and sadness. You feel a longing."

"But at the same time," Sean said. "I don't want to feel pain like that again."

"Sean, odds are you can't have both. You're going to feel pain, it's part of life. But you know the difference now?"

He shook his head.

"Now you have friends to help you get through the pain."

Sean's body seemed to twitch, bound-up emotion ready to burst.

"Melissa, I…I…"

"Yes?"

"Last night, after you all left, I…I found how he knew. Anna left a hologram telling him everything. She…she left me one too."

"Have you seen it?"

"No. I was afraid it would hurt too much. But…I…I want to see it. But then again, I…I don't want to see it alone. I…I don't think I could handle it."

Melissa nodded. "I'll watch it with you when we get back home."

"No." Sean said. "It's here. The wingly who took me sensed its power and brought it to be examined. It's…he put it by my bed."

"Alright, then." Melissa said. "Let's see it." She slid her arm into his. "Come on."

"Thank you," He whispered.

Melissa gave a small smile. The lost child inside Sean was finally coming out.

* * *

Melissa led the nervous leader back to their temporary home and they sat down on his bed. Sean pulled it out from under the bed and looked at it for a long time.

"Go ahead." Melissa encouraged.

Sean nodded and pushed the button, then put it on the ground. The device came to life, glowing and swirling, projecting an image of Anna.

"I don't think she looks like me." Melissa said.

"It's the eyes." Sean reminded her.

"Hey, kiddo." Anna said in the hologram, somehow looking straight at Sean. "If you're seeing this, I'm gone already. I hope you actually get this hologram. I made it as a sort of 'just-in-case' item. On the battlefield, I may not get to properly say goodbye, you know? So I decided to do it here."

Sean gripped the bed sheets tightly.

"If I don't get to tell you, you need to find the other Dragoons, all of them. Yours is the most powerful, but you'll need the entire group to be unstoppable. Find them. I know I can no longer train you, but you must continue. Hey, Divine Dragon! He's yours now. Teach him well."

The Divine Dragoon Spirit glowed in response.

"Don't worry about telling your father about all this. His hologram will tell him everything. He will be angry and confused, no doubt. Let him be. He will understand soon." She sighed. "I hope my dying does not affect him too badly. And I hope the same for you too, Sean. I know you and I were close too." She chuckled. "Remember when you accidentally called me 'Mom'? I almost cried because of how you thought of me. And I, too, thought of you as my own son."

Sean's jaw clenched tightly, about to snap in two. His facial muscles strained to their limits.

"These were great times for me, Sean. I hoped they were for you too. But do not let my death burden you. Go on with your life. Be happy. Live like a child should. Have your own life." She smiled. "Live well, my son. Your mother is with you. I love you. Goodbye." The hologram turned off.

Melissa looked over at Sean, who was gripping the bed sheets so tight that veins were bulging in his arms. She put her hand on his arm, lovingly. With the touch, Sean finally cracked.

He put his hands in his face and wept bitterly. Melissa put one hand on his arm and the other on his opposite shoulder and leaned her head on his side, slightly crying with him.

After a while, Sean asked through the tears, "Why?" He sobbed. "Why do you stay? After how I treated you all? You tried to be my friends and I pushed you away as hard as I could. Why do you stay? You, Melissa…I know how you felt about me, so I tried pushing you harder. After all I put you through, why do you stay!"

"You're right." Melissa said. "You did treat me terribly. I should have left."

"So why did you stay?" He asked again.

Melissa shook her head. "I couldn't help myself." She smiled. "You were just too cute."

Sean let out a mix between a sob…and a laugh, the first laugh she'd heard from him.

Melissa held him there for a little while longer, letting him release his emotion, doing her best to comfort him. Soon enough, he calmed down and took several breaths, then lifted his head up and wiped his face and hands.

"Yeesh." He said, sheepishly. "How embarrassing."

"Appropriate is correct word."

He smiled, a real smile. "Thank you, Melissa."

"What are friends for?" Melissa smiled.

"I just can't believe you really stuck by…you're a true friend, all of you are."

"You did so much for us we wanted to do something for you, too."

"And I'd like to thank you." Sean said. "For all you've done for me."

"You're very welcome."

"No, I mean…" Sean's voice trailed.

"You mean…?"

"Um…you'll have to excuse me. I've never done this, so I'm probably not too good."

"Never done what?"

"This." He moved in and kissed her. Melissa was sent to heaven instantly. She kissed him back for as long as she could before having to breathe again.

"Wow." She said. "For someone who's never done it before, you're really good!"

Sean smiled. "If I do something, I try to do it right."

"You know, I once heard that you're never perfect at something until you can do it five times straight without error, and if you screw up just once, you have to start all over."

"Deal." Sean said, moving in again. But before they could kiss again, the teleporter flashed and the guys came in.

"What powers did Batman even have?" Mike was arguing. "None! Without that tool belt of his, he's nothing!"

"What were Batman's weaknesses?" Robert countered. "None! Superman? A green rock!"

"Kryptonite! But at least a bullet couldn't kill him."

"Don't you know anything! Bullets couldn't touch Batman!"

Ben came up and put an arm on either of them. "I say 'screw you both'. Spiderman kicks serious butt."

Melissa looked at Sean. "Guys really argue about that kind of stuff?"

Sean shrugged. "Apparently."

"I'll go downstairs." She said. "See you tomorrow."

As she passed, Robert had to ask. "So what were you two doing?"

Sean kicked back. "Something you'll never have the liberty of doing."

"Oh, getting personal?" Robert asked.

"Yes we were." Sean smartly replied.

"Don't you need gonads for that?" Robert smiled.

"Yes you do. And once you get some, girls will crawl on you."

"OH!" Ben said. "BURN!"

"Holy cow." Robert said, amazed. "Did I just get burned by _Sean_!"

"I think so." Brad said. He looked at Sean. "Since when do _you_ burn people?"

Sean shrugged. "Since a minute ago."

"What's that?" Ben asked, pointing to the hologram disk.

"Hologram Anna gave left for me that I just found last night. Melissa and I watched it."

"What was on it?" Mike asked.

"It was just a formal goodbye and all."

Robert nodded, more serious now. "Still miss her?"

"A little, but I think I'm finally over it."

"Alright. We were kinda worried about you."

"Yeah?" Sean asked.

"Sure, you put up a wall around yourself." Ben said. "That ain't healthy."

"I suppose. Melissa kind broke the shell."

Robert got back on track. "And you broke her-"

"Rob!" The guys said.

He laughed. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding! That's really cool, man."

"Thanks."

"Girls have ways of doing that." Ben said with a smile.

"What did you do?" Mike asked, noting Ben's smile.

"Got official with Christie."

"It's about freakin' time!" Robert exclaimed. "How'd it happen?"

"My own business." Ben said. Then, he waited. "Rob, haven't you anything to say?"

"Nah, I wore myself out on Sean."

They laughed.

"YOU wore out so easily?"

"Yeah, according to the girls, I seem to have lost my touch."

"To an extent." Sean said.

"Of course! You can take the jungle out of the tiger, but you…wait, something's not right there."

They all laughed.

"Whatever," Robert said, "I'm still me. You can't change it." They all agreed. "So what about you, Sparks?"

"What about me?" Brad asked.

"You hit it off with Brittany?"

"What? No!"

"Why not?"

"Cuz I can't!"

"Again, why not?"

"Cuz…I'm too nervous!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Hey, forgive me for not being as 'aggressive' as you."

"Forgiven. Nobody is."

Mike spoke up. "Just tell her how you feel, man."

"And if she doesn't like me?"

"Then I can hit on her." He smiled.

The teleporter activated and Hank popped up. "Hey." He said. "What're you kids talking about?"

"How our lives suddenly revolve around women." Robert said.

Hank laughed. "Get used to it, kids. That's what it's going to be like for the rest of your lives."

"Oh, God, tell me you're kidding." Robert groaned.

"I'm afraid not." Hank sat down. "You spend the rest of your lives trying to please them. You'll get shot down a lot, probably more than you deserve, and pretty soon you'll grow to despise all women for up to two years until your buddies take you to a club and to-ahem-'re-interest' you, which is a cliché for, as they said at that club, 'get your freak on', and you'll fool around for a while until you finally find Miss Right, but at first she won't think you're Mr. Right, so she'll probably break up with you, so you sell your soul to impress her, and somehow, she falls in love with you and at long last wants to marry you."

Sean stared at him. "Is that what you did with mom?"

"No, her sister."

The guys burst out laughing.

"Your mom just got jealous and stole me away." He laughed. "No, I'm kidding. She didn't steal me. I actually ran to her."

"To escape her sis, right?" Ben asked.

"Yeah!"

They all laughed again.

"You know," Brad pointed out, "It's hard to believe we can all laugh like this when we're probably gonna die tomorrow."

"What, you think the end of the world can crush our spirits?" Rob snorted. "Ain't no way, man!"

"And after the fun we've all had tonight," Sean said, "I highly doubt any of us is gonna let somebody else die."

Robert added, "Not without kicking their butts for ruining the fun." They laughed once more and would continue laughing long into the night.

* * *

Melissa met up with Christie and Brittany downstairs.

"Did you know guys really argue whether Superman or Batman is cooler?" She asked.

"I don't get it." Christie shook her head.

"Neither do I." Brittany said. "Spiderman tops both of them."

Melissa and Christie stared at her. Brittany just shrugged.

"You wanna understand guys, you have to enter their world."

They laughed. "Speaking of guys," Melissa said. "What happened with you and Brad?"

Brittany sighed. "Nothing. I chickened out."

"Chickened out? You?"

"I know! All my cockiness goes to waste!" She flopped down on her bed.

"Just tell him how you feel." Christie said.

"I gave signals." She said, pathetically.

"Are you kidding?" Melissa snorted. "Guys aren't intelligent enough to understand any signal that doesn't involve sex unless they made it up."

"True." Brittany admitted. "How do you get a guy to notice you while keeping your shirt on?"

"Nothing you're willing to do." Christie said.

"Well, maybe nothing _you're_ willing to do." Brittany laughed. "Ah, I've lost my touch."

"Ah, don't say that." Christie said. "You've just got your mind set on someone. You always feel like a failure until something happens and something _will_ happen."

"I hope so. I'm tired of window shopping for this guy." They all chuckled. "But what about you and Ben, did everything go okay with you two?"

"Yeah. I convinced him he didn't weaken me in anyway and that in fact, he strengthened me. We had fun."

"Yeah?" Brittany asked. "What did you do?"

"Found a place that was open and ate a little. We talked for a while about lots of stuff."

"Judging by the size of that smile, you really enjoyed it."

"Yeah." She blushed. "Ben's a really great guy and I'm glad we're together finally."

"Aw…" Melissa teased.

"Oh, shut up." Christie laughed. "And how goes your love life?"

"Oh, great!" She flopped onto her back. "I finally broke the shell!"

Brittany sat up straight. "Seriously?"

"Yes! I got him to spill his story, and then I worked from there." She was grinning from ear to ear. "I saw him smile for the first time, oh, he has a great smile." They laughed, and then she got serious. "Anna left him this hologram that basically just shattered him. He finally broke down and cried right there."

"_Sean?_!" The girls exclaimed.

"Yeah, it surprised me too, but it was good for him, finally being able to release all the pent-up emotion."

"So what happened afterwards?" Brittany asked.

Melissa's intense smile return to her face. "He kissed me."

"He kissed you or you kissed him?" Brittany checked.

"_He_ kissed _me_!"

"Whoa! Really?"

"Yes! I could hardly believe it myself!"

"Incredible!" Christie said.

"So," Curious little Brittany inquired, "How was he?"

"Best ever for me." Melissa said with a nod. Her smile looked like it would break off the sides of her face. "God, he is so hot!"

They laughed again.

"Yeesh, since when do our lives revolve around guys?" Christie asked.

Brittany raised her hand. "Mine always did." They chuckled. "But it has gotten a little crazier."

"Ever since Sean moved to town, everything has, hasn't it?" Christie asked. "Who'd have thought that one new kid could change us so much?"

"Or that we could change him so much." Melissa added.

"But after tonight?" Brittany concluded, "It's all worth it. I mean, we have the hottest and coolest guys at our disposal…"

"What a great term, 'disposal'." Melissa said.

"And," Britt continued, "We get all these awesome powers, including flight, we're meeting winglies, whom we thought were extinct, and we get to save the world!"

"Yeah." The other girls agreed.

"Plus the Dragoon outfits are really hot." They laughed. "Hey! Christie! Did you see how big Ben's eyes got when he saw your armor?"

She blushed.

"I'm serious! What, you haven't noticed?"

Christie's face grew redder. "I guess…"

"You guess?"

She hesitated. "Alright, I spent many a night transforming in front of the mirror, surprised at how good I looked."

"There, see? Don't be ashamed, you're hot!"

"That's really strange coming from another girl."

"You know you like it." They laughed again.

The end of the world could be coming at any second, but the minds and spirits of these teenagers could not be strayed. They would talk, they would laugh, and they would keep each other in high spirits. They were all friends. It's what they did. Nothing could change that.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I like the way we beefed up the Ulara scene. The Dragoons' spirits are very high and soon, they will launch their attack on this unseen foe. Who is it? Find out in the next chapter. What did you guys think of this one?


	10. Mayfil

QUICK NOTES: To Jay: You like action, huh? I think you'll like this chapter then.

To DivineElementalDragoon: Well...just wait til the end. And Elemental Dragoon? That's...kinda everything.

Chapter Ten: Mayfil

"Sean…Sean, wake up."

He did so. His father was shaking him.

"Sun's up." He said. "Walk with me."

Sean got up and dressed in his own clothing. The others were still asleep and Sean made sure not to wake them. They went down the teleporter and Sean got a glance of Melissa, still sleeping with the other girls. He stopped and leaned against the wall for a minute, just watching her sleep. Hank waited for a minute. He counted down on his fingers, 3, 2, 1. Sure enough, Sean walked over and kissed her cheek. She stirred a little, but didn't wake. Sean walked outside with his father.

"Nice move." Hank said.

"Thanks." Sean replied.

"Most kids would be scared to death to show emotion for a girl in front of their parents."

"Well, you know I'm not like most kids."

"No, you're not." Hank agreed. "I see you still got that resilient spirit."

"Like Robert said. You can't take the jungle out of the tiger." They chuckled.

"Yet you can crack a joke now." Hank grinned. "You've softened a little."

"Yeah. Women can do that."

"I know. Anna was like that. I was only dating for your benefit, but when I saw her, I just melted."

"I remember."

Hank let out a little chuckle from the memories. "Seeing you and Melissa reminded me of myself and Anna. I used to just lie there every morning, just watching her sleep. She was beautiful. It was like she had a certain radiance to her. Well, I guess she did. She was a wingly."

"Yeah, how did you take to that?"

"I was stunned, but the more I thought, the less it mattered to me. I loved her all the same. I didn't know what she was, but I knew who she was. And that's all that matters."

"Indeed." Sean agreed. "I always knew Melissa wanted to help me, but I was too afraid to let her."

"So what convinced you?"

"My heart."

"You?"

"I was attracted to her. I wanted to be closer to her, and the only way of letting that happen was to allow her to help me."

"So how do you feel?"

Sean thought. "I believe the correct word for it would be 'relieved'. It's like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders."

"I think it was just split amongst eight more people."

"Eight?"

"I'm here too, you know. And now that I know, I can probably help sometimes, psychologically, you know."

"I know. And thanks."

"Anytime, kid…as long as you don't get yourself killed today."

Sean smiled. "I don't think I will." He looked back at the Dragoon home. "I have too much to come back to."

Hank nodded. "You remember that, because if you come back dead, you're grounded."

Sean laughed. "First off, try and stop me! Second, I'm coming back."

"And I'll be waiting."

There was an awkward silence for a while, then they hugged for the first time in years.

"Now," Hank said. "Go save the world."

* * *

"He always was a heavy sleeper." Sean said. He, Hank, Robert, Brad, and Mike were standing around Ben's bed, trying to think of some way to awaken him.

"Can I hit him?" Robert pleaded.

"No." Sean said.

"What about cold water?" Hank suggested.

"You don't know Ben." Brad said.

"I have an idea." Mike said. "Hey, Christie! What's up?"

Ben jolted up. "Bmbafligle-what?" He said. The guys laughed. "What's going on?"

"You know how impossible you are to wake up?"

Ben was still loopy. "Mm, shut up and let me sleep." They laughed again.

"Forget it." Rob chuckled. "We couldn't wake him up if we said there was an army of naked girls walking by." The guys laughed.

"What?" Melissa exclaimed, appearing in the teleporter just then.

"Nothing." Brad shook his head. "We were just talking about you."

* * *

"So," Sean asked them outside the teleporter. "You're sure you're all ready?"

They all nodded.

"Good, because if you aren't that's just too bad! This is no doubt the biggest thing we've ever gone up against. If you aren't ready, you're going to get killed! Once we go to Mayfil, there is no turning back until the enemy is dead or you are. Understood?"

They said their yeses.

"Alright, then. Let's go." The eight of them all stepped into the center of the large teleporter.

"Everyone ready?" Charle asked again.

"We are." Sean said.

"Y'all be careful." Hank ordered.

"We will." He looked at Charle. "Let's go!"

Charle nodded and gave the signal. Several winglies around all fired a small beam of light at the teleporter, powering it up. The four curved spires began sending their power to the top, creating a ball of yellow light. Soon, the ball shot down amongst them, then expanded to surround them. The ball lifted them off their feet and carried them away from Ulara in a flash.

* * *

With the second yellow flash, the glowing yellow ball sphere surrounding them vanished. The contrast in winglies was instantly revealed to them. Ulara was a beautiful city, filled with buildings of chief craftsmanship with babbling brooks rushing underneath to feed the luscious green trees reaching up to the clear sky.

Mayfil was an ugly city, dark and dingy with old, crumbling buildings. The only thing running below the city was a thick dark bluish-gray fog which contained who-knew-what. There was no sign of vegetation ever being there or ever having a chance for existing in this city. The sky was black with sickening dark clouds which projected very little light. The only lights were from the city. Several buildings were lined with lights from old wingly power. But the lighting was dim and the colors were dark. Most of the city was black, blue, or somewhere in between.

The Dragoons stepped out of the building and watched the city working. Little blue fireballs were floating all around.

"What are those things?" Christie asked.

"Souls." Sean said.

"Souls?"

Sean pointed to a tower with a blue light coming from the top of it. "That's the tower where winglies would suck souls from earth and send them to the Infernal World, should they be displeasing to them.

"How is that possible?" Melissa asked.

"Dark powers, alliances with demons, and a whole group of satanic, sadistic winglies. Dark times."

"We should destroy that tower then." Ben said.

"No point. Whoever is here will just rebuild it in a heartbeat. Once we destroy the enemy, the tower will crumble and the city will sleep again."

"How do you know?"

"Because it's happened before. Come on." Sean stepped forward, going across the deteriorated bridges. In some spots, there weren't any bridges period. However, when something came forward, a bridge of magic would appear to support them.

They kept moving from building to building until they finally reached solid ground, elevated high. This was where the few winglies who lived here actually lived. The architecture was the same, everything looking ready to crumble and yet somehow remained erect.

"We should check the main tower." Sean said. "Chances are whomever we have to kill is inside."

"Inside?" Brittany trembled. "You sure?"

"Afraid?" Sean pried.

"Hey, I'm not afraid to admit it. This place gives me the creeps." She pointed to the tower with her mallet. "And that place gives me more goose bumps than anywhere else."

"Ancient darkness." Sean said. "I can understand it. Alright. We'll search elsewhere first."

(Running away?)

All heads spun around, but were met by no one.

(Cowardice is not suitable for an army, however small.)

Sean re-gathered his wits. "Cowardice? You're the one who refuses to show yourself."

(I hide nothing.) The voice assured. A brilliant, eerie blue light suddenly shot up from the ground in front of them. The Dragoons took several steps back. Surges of power flew from the ground and swirled around the light. A dark figure took shape. It was humanoid, but who really knew what it could've been?

All the light and power suddenly wrapped around this creature to finish the appearance. The power faded and the light died out to reveal what looked like a ball human in fancy garments with a cold grin and a cool green color in his irises which produced a dim glow.

"The dragons have softened." The figure spoke with a chill to his voice. "This may be easier than I originally anticipated."

The Dragoons Spirits suddenly glowed with an intense fury.

"I think he ticked 'em off." Robert said.

"No." Sean said. "They recognize him."

"But who is it?" Bras asked.

The Dragons all got their answer at the same time, but Sean was the only one to say the name.

"Melbu Frahma!"

"The same!" The wingly emperor chuckled. "Those dragons and I have quite a few memories."

"Yeah." Sean said. "They killed you…twice, I might add."

"That's a pretty bad record." Robert spoke up.

Melbu scoffed. "Statistics, statistics. I've much improved since then."

"Uh huh." Sean said, unconvinced. "So tell me, how did you survive?"

"Honestly, I didn't." Melbu admitted. "I was destroyed by the last Dragoon army." Melbu grinned. "But I have friends in high places."

Sean caught the drift. "Zachwell."

"Exactly. As you very well know, he rules over death, so he revived me. This was a long, long time ago, but I didn't want to attack just yet. I began to improve my skills and increase my power. My abilities now extend far beyond anything you can imagine." He chuckled. "After all…the Virage Embryo is still a part of me."

The Dragoons grew uneasy, but refused to show any signs of it.

"You must've done very well." Sean said. "The dragons didn't detect you until a few months ago."

"I know. I made it that way. But, you know, when you have too much power, some of it is bound to seep through. The dragons caught my scent…and I caught theirs."

"That's why you sent the virage." Sean guessed.

"I sensed a great power had come to your town." Melbu's grin grew more sinister. "I wasn't all that surprised to find that it was you, Sean."

Sean's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I knew your powers had grown, but I wasn't aware you had moved. A short time after Anna's death, I stopped watching you."

Sean stiffened. "What?"

"Ten years ago, I felt a power that I have not felt in ages…a Dragoon's power. But I was very close to finishing my preparation and did not want to interrupt myself…so I asked Zachwell to look into it."

The boy didn't move. "You sent him?" Sean seethed.

"I did. I hadn't counted on another wingly, though, especially one that powerful. She used all her energy to protect you and seal off Zachwell, but she couldn't save herself, could she?"

Sean's jaw was clenched tightly. "That's how he knew…"

"Did I pinch a nerve?" Melbu toyed. "After she left, you isolated yourself. I knew you could never succeed in defeating me, so I stopped paying attention to you. But I am surprised you found all seven other dragoons, and it seems you've changed a bit."

Sean's hand twitched and his sword trembled. "It was all because of you…you sent Zachwell and he killed Anna…because of YOU!"

Melbu nodded. "All because of me."

Sean's eyes burned and his dragoon spirit shone with rage. "You have only guaranteed your demise!"

"Have I?"

A green symbol glowed on Melbu's forehead and his body glowed brightly. Power surged throughout his body and his appearance was lost in the light. An ominous feeling swept over the Dragoons as the shape shifted and grew.

"Sean…?" Ben asked.

"He's using the power of the Virage Embryo." Sean explained. He shook his head. "And he's had a lot of time to power up for this moment." Sean then drew his blade and looked at it. "But I've got a score to settle with him." He turned to his companions. "This is what we've been training for! Remember everything I've taught you! Ready?"

They all drew their weapons as a response.

"Right." Sean turned back to Melbu. "C'mon!" Eight Dragoon Spirits shone. Sean kept himself on low power once again, waiting to see just what this foe had.

Melbu finally stopped glowing and amazed them all. His upper body seemed normal, but his waist and arms merged down into a monstrous, hulking, brown body with two muscular arms and legs on its thick torso. Melbu's eyes glowed with evil delight.

"Come then!" He beckoned. "Show me what you've got!"

"You got it." Sean floated in the air and held his hands together, then fired a white blast from them. The Dragoons all joined in with magical strikes of their own. Flashes of color filled the atmosphere as the Dragoons threw in everything they had at this fiend. Sean finally gave the signal to stop and the firing ceased.

Melbu Frahma still stood, hand outstretched. "You didn't honestly think it would be that easy, did you?"

"Not really," Sean admitted, "but it was worth a shot."

"So why didn't that work?" Ben asked.

"He must have some sort of magical protection."

"I get the hint." Robert flew first, spear outstretched. Melbu smacked the spear away and gave a great punch. Robert flew back into the remains of a building and found it hard to get back up. "What was that!"

"I've done this twice before." Melbu said. "I have experience!"

"Ben." Sean said. "Dual strike."

Ben surrounded himself in fire and they both flew. When they were close, Ben launched a fireball and Sean shot an energy blast a second after it. Melbu took both hits without even flinching or blocking. He focused his arms on the Dragoons. Sean spun sideways and sliced at the hand and was able to escape, but Ben was caught in his grasp, even though he was surrounded in fire. Melbu's hand glowed and a blast engulfed Ben. Melbu tossed him up and punched him away.

Sean flew over to him. "You okay?"

"No!" Ben forced himself onto a knee. "That attack…it went right through my armor!"

"Christie." Sean said. She flew over and began healing him with a light from her hand. But the light was dim and the effects were slow. "Hurry it up!" Sean commanded.

"I'm giving it all I got, but nothing's happening." Christie was confused.

"HEAD'S UP!" Mike shouted. Sean turned and saw Melbu fire. Everyone scattered, but Sean held up his hands to block the attack. His arms burned even with the dragon armor upon him.

"NNGGHH!" Sean grunted, but had to protect Ben. At the end of the attack, Sean was tossed back in the air and landed on his back. He rubbed his arms furiously. He'd never felt pain like that.

"What was that!" He hissed. "It went right through!"

_It isn't my fault!_ The Divine Dragon assured. _I'm trying my best. You may have to go…go to, uh…_

"Yes…?"

_I, um…ah…_

"You alright?"

_Honestly, no. I'm having trouble concentrating. I feel…weaker than usual._

"This would've been handy info to know beforehand!"

_It didn't happen until a moment ago!_

"Sean!" Mike ran to him. "The Golden Dragon says something's up. It's like he's sick or something."

"Same with Red-Eyes." Ben noted. It turned out that all the dragons were feeling something, but they had no time to discuss it.

"SCATTER!" Sean commanded and they jumped away. Ben had used a Healing Fog to cure himself, so he was feeling better, but he still had the sting.

They were powerless, it seemed. Their armor had no resistance to Melbu's abilities, physical or not, and no attack could harm him, and the dragons showed no signs of improving. In fact, it seemed to get worse.

Finally, Brad avoided yet anther blast. They'd all just been flying and dodging for now, and trying to get a few hits. But now, as Melbu turned to institute another attack, Brad saw something imbedded in the back of the lower body. It was a small, glowing, green gem.

_That!_ The Violet Dragon spoke up. _It's coming from that! That gem is radiating some sort of energy that is weakening us!_

Brad told Sean, who investigated the matter.

_The Dragon Block Staff!_ The Divine Dragon roared. _I'd recognize that accursed gem anywhere!_

"Shoot." Sean hissed. He gathered everyone around and explained the situation. "It's just like the staff Melbu used to have years ago. We have to destroy it somehow."

"DIE!" Melbu roared, firing a great blast. Brittany and Brad were the only ones fast enough to dodge it. The others had to take the full force. They were driven to their knees. Brad and Brittney distracted Melbu while they recovered.

"Everyone alright?" Sean asked.

"I'm fine." Melissa informed.

"I'm good." Rob assured.

"I'll _be_ good." Christie grumbled.

No further replies.

"Ben? Mike?" Sean turned and saw their bodies on the ground. After a quick inspection he concluded they were unconscious.

"Why just them?" Melissa asked. "We were hit too."

"Yeah, but Ben's already taken a bad hit and Mike is weak against magic. Alright, everyone, change back to human form. The dragons can't help us here." They all changed back. Melbu saw them.

"Well, what's this?" he smiled. "You wouldn't be surrendering, would you?"

"Fat chance!" Sean scoffed.

"Too bad. It would be a real help to you."

"We've already figured out your little trick. You're using the Dragon Block Staff to weaken our dragons. Somehow, I expected you to use real power instead of hiding behind cheap little tricks!"

Melbu laughed as Brittney and Brad changed back. "Oh, but the Dragon Block Staff is but a demonstration of my power! Just wait until you experience the real thing!"

"Christie." Sean said, "Stay with Ben and Mike; keep them safe and try to awaken them."

"Roger."

"Any bright ideas?" Robert asked him.

"Yep: destroy the Dragon Block Staff."

"Any idea just how to do it?"

"None whatsoever."

"Beautiful."

"Eat this!" Melbu fired a green ball at them. They dodged it and began attacking.

Sean planted the first strike with his blade, and then jumped over Melbu's swinging arm to strike again as Robert stabbed on his other side. Neither move made much of a mark. Melbu swung his arms and they ducked away. Sean ran by and slid with his sword outstretched to slice through Melbu's side. When Melbu swung down at him, Brittany ran up his arm and smacked his head a few times with her mallet before jumping off so he couldn't grab her. Brad took out an item Sean had given him, pressed the button on the small, spherical object, and threw it at Melbu. And electrical current rushed throughout Melbu's body. He just laughed.

"This is pathetic!" He fired a small wave at Brad, knocking him back, then grabbed Brittany and threw her at Robert, then backhanded Sean, sending him flying.

Sean hit the ground and propped himself on a knee, clutching his stomach. _Hopefully no internal bleeding._ Sean thought. He looked up at Melbu and saw that he was headed for Ben, Mike, and Christie. Their status hadn't changed and Christie wouldn't be able to handle Melbu on her own. _They'll be slaughtered!_ Thinking fast, Sean reached into the small item sack at his side and pulled out a small, spherical object with a button on it, similar to the one he'd given Brad, but with a lot more power. He pushed the button and held it as the numbers on a small display screen increased.

"C'mon, c'mon!" The digits increased rapidly until they hit 250, then the orb began glowing with power. "Alright! Melbu! Catch!" He threw it at him. It hit Melbu in the chest and exploded in flashes of colored light."

"AAAGGHH!" He roared, stumbling back.

"And that's why you don't mess with humans."

"Sean!" Christie called. "The guys are awake! I think the explosion woke them up. What was that, anyway?"

"Psychedelic Bomb," Sean said, hobbling over to them. "Or better known as the Psyche Bomb X."

"Got any more?"

"I'm afraid not. It's one of a kind."

"Why's that?"

Sean picked up the smoking orb. "Ooh! Hot! Ah! See? It's still intact! It's the world's only reusable bomb!"

"Well, that's handy." Mike said, rising weakly. "Where did you get it?"

"Anna gave it to me."

"Ah. Keep using that thing!"

"Unfortunately, I can't use it again for another hour. I had to save it for a special occasion."

"Bummer." Ben muttered. They were briefed and de-transformed.

"Sean," Christie said, "I think I know a way to get rid of the Dragon Block Staff!"

His brows perked. "Oh?"

"Yeah, just get Melbu to turn away from me."

"One distraction coming up." Sean turned and ran at Melbu as he was gathering more power. He slid, slicing his knees, causing him to stumble and shoot the beam into the air, harming no one. Sean sliced his chest and Melbu swung, missing. "C'mon, Melbu." He taunted. "You want a piece of me?"

"Indeed I do!" A flame appeared in Melbu's hand. "Extra Crispy!" But before he could fire, an arrow struck into his back. He turned and saw Christie. Sean saw the arrow and ducked down. "What was-"

_Kaboom!_

The arrow exploded in Melbu's back.

"AAGGHH!" He roared. When the flames died, Melbu looked at Christie. "What was that!"

"Detonating Arrow. The explosion is small, but enough to fulfill its purpose."

"What purpose!"

"Turn and see."

He turned and saw all the other dragoons powered up and waiting.

"FIRE!" Sean commanded and they released their fury. Surprisingly enough, it knocked Melbu onto his back. He pulled himself up. "Impossible! The Dragon Block Staff-"

"Is destroyed." Sean completed. "Thanks to Christie's arrow."

Melbu glared at her. She just shrugged and transformed, healing everyone.

"What does it matter?" Melbu scoffed. "Your powers cannot overcome my own."

Sean's eyes burned. "You haven't seen real power!" With that, his Dragoon Spirit glowed ultimately bright. His body glowed and swarmed with incredible power. His body shifted as he unleashed his true Dragoon form.

Sean was new being. His chest and torso armor was thick and merged with the armor around his waist and onto his legs. The armor on Sean's legs was much different from the others' it was like a new set of legs. They were grey with a seemingly built-in armor to them with sharp knees and fairly large feet that came to a point, with a design similar to a dragon's claw. Sean's right arm had a large shoulder guard and a long armored glove, like the other dragoons. There was a small space on his upper right arm that was not armored, but it didn't matter much. Sean's sword had been shifted completely to become longer, broader, and sharper. His left arm was completely changed. The shoulder guard seemed to have a panel on it of some sort, but no one knew what it concealed. The shoulder guard merged in with Sean's new arm, which was actually a cannon now. Six grey wings had sprouted from his back, enough to carry the immense form. Sean had seven dragon eyes in the front of his chest armor, not just one. To top things off, Sean's head was fashioned with a sort of headset wrapping around his forehead with supports going down his jaw line and a green visor over his left eye.

"Whoa." Mike marveled.

"Cooool." Brad smiled.

"Dang!" Ben blinked.

Melbu scoffed. "Big deal! I've seen this power before!"

"And it wiped you out."

"Not this time!" Melbu's hands glowed. Virages popped out of the ground at rapid rates.

"Hiding behind your drones?" Sean smiled. "Alright, we can play your game. Divine Dragon! Come!"

As it came from a void in the sky, the Dragoons could see this dragon was built for damage. It had a thick body with strong legs and a series of panels on its chest. The dragon's neck was very long and the head atop it had seven eyes, six surrounding the main eye, which was larger than the rest. It had seven wings, six very large ones on its back and another at the base of its tail, which was as long as the neck, so this was a very massive beast. On its back was a cannon built into the dragon's very flesh. The beast landed and let out a deafening roar that would scare any normal person from the battle.

But Sean wasn't done. "Divine Dragon! Release your companions!"

The dragon roared again and its eyes each glowed a different dragoon color. Seven more voids opened and seven more dragons came, each ready for battle.

"They will deal with the virages." Sean informed. "Melbu, you cannot escape our wrath!"

"Humph!" Melbu snorted. "Bring it on!"

Both sides went all out in this ferocious battle.

* * *

Mike relied mostly on his physical strength to carry him through. Otherwise, he could shift the earth below them.

Brittany could use her icy powers to stop Melbu in his tracks for a short time.

Brad found it easy to strike down Melbu from anywhere with his lightning magic.

Christie mainly focused on healing the rest of the group.

Robert attacked fairly frequently, but also did his best to protect the group with his Rose Storm ability.

Melissa struck fast and hard with her rapier.

Ben used all the magic he could to roast the beast before him.

Sean let his anger out in both professional swordsmanship and deadly magic.

The Dragons found few problems with their virage opponents and wiped them out easily, then came to aid the dragoons.

Even though he was being struck left and right, Melbu kept fighting; he showed no signs of giving up any time soon.

Several minutes into the fight, Melbu Frahma was clearly winning. He had taken quite a beating, but it did not show. The Dragoons, however, we beat up pretty bad. Mike's strength was waning away with every stroke of his axe. Brittany had been relying on her speed, but she was slowing as she weakened. Brad's mind was being scrambled with his constant use of electricity. Christie was healing everyone else, but she'd taken quite a few beatings herself, so she was weaker. Robert had all but given up on Rose Storm as Melbu was just blasting right through it now. Melissa's magic was also failing her as Melbu grew more accustomed to her attacks. Ben was strained from continuous assaults. Sean was bushed, but still fought on, for he did the most damage. Even the dragons were weary.

Ben flew to Sean. "Okay, Sean…what…what do we do now? I'm wiped out, but…this guy just won't quit!"

"Yeah…" Sean panted. "I…never thought he'd be able to…to go on this long!"

Melissa joined in. "We have to…think of something new…something that will…leave him...as wiped out…as we are!"

"We gotta hit him hard." Brad flew to them. "So that…we won't know what hit him!"

"Like what?" Brittany joined. "Our strongest attacks…barely faze him!"

They all began pondering over a new strategy, while trying to stay alive, which interferes with a person's thought process. Finally, Sean got an idea. The word spread around to all the dragoons and dragons and they all waited for Sean's signal.

"NOW!" He shouted. They all got together and lined up in single file in the order they were told: Mike, Robert, Christie, Melissa, Brittany, Ben, Brad, Sean, Golden Dragon, Jade Dragon, White-Silver Dragon, Dark Dragon, Blue-Sea Dragon, Red-Eye Dragon, Violet Dragon, and the Divine Dragon took up the tail. They charged.

Melbu crossed his arms over himself, but it helped him little. He took every attack. Axe, spear, arrow, rapier, mallet, katana, fist, claymore, and the various dragon attacks.

Melbu's upper body was torn apart, as was most of his lower body.

"So that's your game?" Melbu hissed darkly. "It won't work!"

"We'll see." Sean said. "Again!" They swarmed towards him again.

Melbu grinned. "Check this out!" A giant mouth suddenly opened in the middle of Melbu's lower body, big enough to fit a sumo wrestler.

"WHAA!" Mike shouted, as he was in the front of the line. He tried to stop himself, but the others couldn't stop fast enough and pushed him closer. He stopped inches above the mouth and realized it was sucking him in! The Dragoons grabbed him and tried pulling themselves out. Suddenly, the mouth closed and Melbu blasted them all back.

"I dare you to try that again." Melbu taunted.

"How about this!" Sean fired a blast from his cannon.

"You underestimate me." The mouth reopened and sucked in the attack. Melbu's hands each fired a white blast as the cannon fire was returned. Sean did his best to defend, but he was knocked to the ground. Melbu began recharging.

"Any more brilliant ideas?" Brad asked.

"Shut up!"

"I was serious! We need a new plan."

"Well, I'm fresh out!"

"Magical attacks he fires right back." Ben observed. "And if we attack physically, he'll suck us in."

A light when on in Sean's head. "That sounds familiar…" He began planning. His eyes grew wider and a smile spread across his face. "I'VE GOT IT!"

"What!" Everyone wanted to know.

"It's risky, it's difficult and it might not work, but if it does, it will rid us of Melbu Frahma."

"Then I'm all for it." Robert said. "What did you have in mind?"

He told them his plan.

"Head's up!" Mike said as Melbu fired again.

"Come, Dragoons!" Melbu taunted. "Fight me, you cowards!"

"Melissa." Sean said. "You ready?"

"Yeah, sure." Sean saw the nervousness in her eyes.

"Alright, go."

"Okay."

"One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry. You'll be fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I wouldn't send you in if I wasn't. Besides, if all else fails, I'll get you, alright?"

That comforted her. "Alright. Dark Dragon! Come with me!"

Melissa flew over him and Melbu opened his secondary jaws, sucking her in. She couldn't fight it, but she wouldn't much have to.

"Melbu!" Melbu turned to see the other dragons firing at him. He quickly turned and absorbed their attacks, just as they'd planned. Melissa used the direct strength of her dragon to help her open up a massive Demon's Gate. Demon's Gate is a special move in which a void opens up in the sky into a world of oblivion. Anything cast into it will surely be decimated in under a minute. The trick would be getting Melbu into it. Once he was in, there was no coming out.

Melbu hadn't seen the gate being made, so he almost lost his balance as the vortex tried pulling him in. He quickly regained his balance. Melbu looked at her.

"You thought combining your powers with your dragon's would be strong enough to pull me in? Ha! Guess again!"

The other dragoons powered themselves up and fired once more. Melbu's mouth waited as powers of fire, wind, water, electricity, light, and divine energy shot at him.

Melbu didn't notice that one element had not been used. Without warning, the earth suddenly exploded under him. Melbu stumbled as the ground shifted and did not absorb the attacks coming at him. The combined force of the blasts, the earth shifting against him, and the pull of the vortex caused Melbu to stumble back into the pit.

"AH! NOO!" Melbu roared, trying to regain his balance and strength. It was too late. He fell into the pit.

Melissa, from behind, watched the pit close with Melbu's painful cries and let out a sigh of relief.

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" Robert suddenly exploded. Melissa flew over and thought the same thing.

Melbu's hands were on the edges of the gate, attempting to pry it open.

"CLOSE IT!" Sean shouted. "CLOSE THE GATE!"

Melissa and the dragon gave it their all. Her spirit glowed dark blue with severe intensity. She strained heavily against Melbu's grasp.

"Nnngghh!" She grunted. "He's…too…strong!"

With unrealistic strength, Melbu forced himself through the gate and closed it behind him, which imploded upon closing. Melissa collapsed in a heap.

Melbu was a sickening sight to see. He'd taken some damage in there. His skin was nearly gone, just leaving a bloody, mutated figure. He breathed heavily.

A wingly symbol glowed on his forehead. He hissed. A white light outlined the dragoons and they were frozen in place.

"What is this!" Sean demanded.

"A temporary paralysis spell. Feel my pain!" He ran up to them and crushed each dragoon and dragon into the ground, one by one. Then, he jumped back and lifted up his arms. The ground blasted up beneath the Dragoons in a brilliant white light, which launched them all sky-high. Finally, Melbu's entire body glowed. All his power concentrated in his hands and gaping mouth.

"DIE! DIE! DDDIIIIIIIIEEEEE!" Melbu bellowed, firing his ultimate attack. The dragons were eliminated and the dragoons nearly followed. They all crash-landed far from Melbu, who stood laughing in victory.

_Thum-Thump...Thum-Thump..._

Sean's heartbeat thudded loudly in Sean's ears as feeling began to return to his body. It was a horrible struggle for Sean just to get on one knee. He inhaled too quickly for his weakened body and coughed up blood. He tried again, slowly and painfully. There wasn't a single part of his body that didn't ache. His vision was blurred. He turned his head and beheld a sight that would haunt him forever.

His friends were using all their strength just to stand. Robert pushed himself up on his spear and used it as a crutch as he went over to help Christie get up. Melissa pulled herself up by a ledge and helped her brother to stand. Brittany was forcing what little strength she had to assist Brad up.

_So close to death and they strain themselves to help one another?_ Sean observed. Of course. They were all friends. They cared deeply for one another. They all looked out for one another. Such a bond kept them alive. They wouldn't allow themselves to die, not while they could help their friends.

_What have I been missing?_ Sean wondered.

He propped himself on a knee and tried pushing himself up, but fell. Suddenly, his arm was flung around someone's body. Ben put his arm around Sean's torso and began pulling him up.

"C'mon, man. Get up!"

Sean forced himself to stand.

It was much easier with his friend's help…

He looked at his crew. They were checking each other over, making sure they were alright. They would keep going…until the end.

A tear slid down Sean's cheek, mixed with blood and sweat. It pained him to see them all like this…

_You are just like them._ The Divine Dragon said. _You, too, would not give up until victorious or dead. They understand what is important. _

Sean knew it. Never had he seen such a sight.

Then, he turned to see Melbu walking towards them, a grin on his face. He would obliterate them all. What could possibly stop this monster? Sean saw no other option.

_Resorting to your last plan?_

_What other choice have I?_

_I know, I know._ The Dragon hesitated. _You've done well…Anna would be proud._

Sean nodded. He used a healing breeze on everyone, the last on he had. They would last another minute…maybe.

"What do we do?" Melissa asked him.

Sean was pained. He really didn't want to do this…not now. "Retreat." Sean muttered. "We leave now."

They all heard him and knew how little he wanted to accept defeat.

"Go." Sean said. "Run for your life." They began flying away, with Sean bringing up the rear. Melbu laughed as they flew.

"Go on! Fly away, you cowards!"

Suddenly, Sean looped around and flew back, unbeknownst to the other Dragoons. He charged at Melbu.

"Yes." Melbu hissed. "Come to me." His jaws were gaping.

Sean powered up his cannon to its full potential.

"Go ahead and fire." Melbu chuckled. "Go ahead so I can finish you off."

But that wasn't Sean's plan at all. He was going in. He got closer and closer, still fooling Melbu with his powered-up cannon, which he could use at any moment. The jaws pulled him in faster.

Melbu's eyes glowed with evil delight.

"Here we go…" Sean whispered.

_Fwoom!_

A large fireball shot right past Sean's face and curved right into Melbu's gaping mouth, unexpected.

_BOOM!_

The ball exploded inside Melbu's gut before he could use it against them. Sean reacted quickly. He put all his physical strength into his legs, stopping himself on a dime. His upper body was practically inside Melbu's mouth.

"DIVINE DRAGON CANNON!" Sean fired upon Melbu's insides, blasting him from the inside out.

Melbu roared in unbelievable pain as he was ripped apart. His magic mixed in with the attack and exploded all the greater. Melbu's body glowed, ready to blow. Sean jumped back quickly and turned. Ben was rushing down at him. He tackled Sean and pinned him to the ground.

"ARE YOU FREAKIN' CRAZY!" He demanded. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING!"

"Exactly what it looked like." Sean chuckled. "But, uh, thanks for helping me out."

Ben was too grateful to be angry.

Melbu's body glowed all the brighter, then suddenly let out a great wave of light. The Dragoons were blinded. When they could see again, they couldn't believe their eyes.

A lone figure pushed himself up with an effort.

Melbu Frahma.

But he wasn't the all-powerful beast he had been. He was reduced to his wingly form. Melbu got up and looked himself over.

"No…" he whispered. He looked up at Sean and Ben as they stood. The other dragoons were just landing around them. His eyes burned with fury, but he knew he would quickly be shredded.

Melbu activated his wings of light and flew away.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: That's it for now. Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger. The eleventh and final chapter will be posted soon enough. Please tell me what you thought of this one.


	11. The Fate of the World

OPENING NOTES: To Dartboy: By "eleventh and final", I mean it is both the eleventh and final chapter; this chapter is the last, sadly.

To Shi Rurouni etc: I like the glomp thing, but...your favorite part was the coughing up blood and you're sad that Sean is good now?

To Bunnybunny: Fanfiction can be virtually anything, as long as it has some sort of roots tracing back to the original movie/game/etc. The basis of this story (eight modern-dragon teens) was created from a number of realistic events and ideals. Spike and I put our heads together and we came up with this series. Sorry if it's hard to keep track of everything, but we did our best to make things clear.

Alright, this is the last chapter, y'all. Enjoy.

Chapter Eleven: The Fate of the World

"NO YOU DON'T!" Sean jumped up and flew after him, followed by the others. Melbu flew into the main tower, into which souls were once pulled. Once inside, Melbu planted some sort of barrier around the doorway and continued along. Sean couldn't stop, so he braced himself.

To his surprise, he flew right through it. Sean landed awkwardly and looked back at the dragoons, who had been able to stop.

"It's alright!" He said. "You can go through!"

Ben went first, but upon touching the barrier, he flew back several feet. Robert had followed close behind.

"What the?" Brad exclaimed.

Sean went back to the barrier and slid his hand through and back. Nothing. "What is this?"

They all heard Melbu's disembodied voice.

(Heh, heh…it is an elemental barrier. Your friends cannot help you this time, Sean. Come now and face me alone!")

Sean's jaw was clenched. He knew there was nothing he could do. He looked back in the direction Melbu had run, then back at his friends.

"Try to find a way in!" He said. Then, he took off after Melbu.

* * *

Melbu was found in the main chamber, where the souls would be sucked in. He stood, grinning.

"Afraid?"

"I fear nothing." Sean assured. He landed near Melbu and changed back to human, but stayed on low power. Melbu wasn't nearly as powerful as he was before, but he was certainly more agile. Sean needed all the mobility he could get and the large Dragoon form was not made for agility.

"For an all-powerful being," Sean said, "You're quite the coward. Or do you not really have the power to face us all at once?"

"It is not cowardice." Melbu returned. "It is strategy. Once I have finished off you, the others will drop like flies."

"Not them." Sean shook his head. "They're too powerful for you."

"Oh, we shall see." Melbu extended his hand and a wingly blade appeared in it. "But for now, it's just you and me, man to man."

"Just how I like it." Sean readied his blade.

* * *

The other Dragoons were thinking fast of how to get inside. Mike had tried making his own doorway, but the barrier was right there when he broke through the wall, so they needed a new plan.

"Elements can't get through." Melissa said. "Sean doesn't have an element, so he passed easily…well, it's not like any of us can just drop our element."

"We don't need to." Ben said. "I have an idea. Sean's dragoon is like all of ours combined, right? What if we combined out strengths and applied them to one person at a time so we could all pass through?"

"Well," Robert said. "No one else has any ideas, so let's do it."

"I'll go first." Ben volunteered. "Hit me." Each Dragoon aimed an elemental beam at him. The different powers combined with Ben's and his body glowed a grayish-white. Ben took a few steps. "It'll have to be quick. This is either gonna work or it's gonna hurt."

Ben began running, and then took to the air, straight into the barrier. With a flash, he passed through and hit the ground on the other side.

"Hey! It works!" Ben said with a smile.

"I'm next!" Melissa said. They all filled her with their powers. Then, Ben shot a ray of fire at her. However, the flames bounced off the barrier and flew back at him.

"What the?" Ben exclaimed. He tried again, but the fire would not pass through the barrier. "Aw, shoot." Ben groaned. "Didn't count on this."

"Won't go through, will it?" Mike observed.

They all sighed. Ben looked in the direction Sean had gone, then back at the others. "I'm going ahead!" was all he said.

* * *

Sean and Melbu stared each other down for a while, each daring the other to make the first move.

"How good a fighter would you rate yourself?" Melbu asked Sean.

Sean gave a small smile. "I'd say I hold up rather well."

"That all? Before a wingly emperor, I was a grand warrior."

"That so?"

"Oh, indeed. I have close to twelve thousand years of experience. What have you? Ten years?"

Sean was silent.

"It's a proven fact that if you put a wingly warrior and a human warrior together to fight, each having the same experience, that the wingly will win. How can a human expect to train another human if he cannot fight on his own?" He chuckled. "Humans are WEAK!"

Melbu jumped with that last word and struck. Sean put one hand behind his back and blocked with his sword. Melbu instantly swung his sword down and under at wingly speed, yet Sean blocked it, too, plus a third attack, then spun, bashing the side of Melbu's head with the butt end of his blade.

"I was trained by a wingly and a dragon." Sean said. "I think I can keep up."

Melbu Frahma realized that he had a real warrior on his hands, so he took it up a notch. He teleported over to Sean and struck. Sean blocked it and three more quick slashes, then swung a few of his own, all avoided, then planted a successful kick. Melbu stumbled back, and then jump high in the air. Sean put up his blade to block, but Melbu teleported to behind him. Sean foresaw it and spun to block, then spun back around to block another sneak attack.

Melbu reeled back and shot forward. Sean jumped and flailed over him, then turn to parry an attack and kept spinning to get a few more slices in and spun to kick Melbu when he teleported and struck a few more times. Melbu teleported and blocked, then kicked Sean in the gut and planted a spinning kick on his head. Sean hit the ground and catapulted up into a downward strike, taking Melbu by surprise. Melbu fired a wave to knock him back several feet, but Sean didn't fall.

Melbu dashed and struck. Sean swung up, parrying and spun into several more slashes. Melbu quickly teleported away. With inhuman speed, Sean tossed his sword high up and forward, then used his dragon powers to dash forward and punch Melbu up as soon as he appeared. Sean caught his sword and swung, slicing Melbu's side. Melbu stumbled back and Sean jumped at him, spinning horizontally. Melbu jumped back and Sean's sword stabbed into the ground, making a fine support to Sean to swing his feet over and kick Melbu square in the chest, then he rolled and spun his blade, firing a white beam.

Sean charged at Melbu Frahma, hoping to get him before he got up. Melbu catapulted up and shot forward, sword ready to stab. Sean spun to the side, but Melbu knew that would happen. He swung his leg and tripped Sean, then bashed him to the ground with the butt of his blade and kicked him away. Melbu teleported to him and tried stabbing, but Sean rolled away and kicked at him when he tried again, then hopped up. Melbu fired a white wave, knocking him away.

Suddenly, Melbu felt a warmth on his side. He turned just in time to see Ben shooting a flaming wave at him. Melbu put up a shield, but was knocked back by the attack. Ben landed near Sean.

"How did you get in?" Sean asked him.

"Tell ya later."

Melbu jumped to his feet. "I don't know how you got in, but you're not getting out!" He fired a watery beam which Sean deflected for him. Ben jumped over him and shot a few fireballs at him, all blocked.

Sean and Ben rushed at him from different sides. Melbu jumped back to avoid them. Ben shot out first with three swipes. Melbu blocked them and then turned to face Sean, who had jumped over him and blocked his attacks. Melbu teleported away from their vice and ended up on Ben's side, striking him hard. Ben blocked the attacks and backflipped in the air. Melbu took his hit and did a backflip of his own, right into Sean's attack. Melbu teleported and kicked him in the side.

Ben jumped towards Melbu, spinning rapidly. Melbu stepped back to avoid the flames and countered the attack with three strikes of his own. During this, Sean jumped up high and threw down an energy ball. Ben saw it and moved away. Melbu took the full hit. He returned the favor with his own magic blasts.

All three of them were beaten and worn from the earlier battle and now they were spending every last ounce of energy remaining in them. They were tired, but they couldn't quit. The battle remained neutral for a little while.

Finally, Melbu got frustrated after receiving a few slashes.

"ENOUGH OF YOU!" He roared. His hands glowed brightly and he forced Sean away with a wave attack, but then turned to Ben and unleashed a great watery blast, shooting him into the wall and knocking him to the ground. Melbu turned to Sean. "I said I would face you and you alone!"

Sean looked over at Ben. He would be alright, as long as Melbu didn't attack him again. He focused on his opponent.

Melbu fired two rays from his blade and Sean deflected them both while running. Melbu jumped and spun. Sean held up his blade and blocked all the hits and parried Melbu's surprise attack coming from the opposite direction and gave a spinning kick, then a punch. Melbu gave his own spinning kick. Sean ducked down and flipped over so his chest faced the ground and planted a two-footed mule kick to Melbu's stomach. He flew back and hit a wall.

Furious, Melbu thought of a new plan. He rocketed at Sean, sword pointed. Sean stepped aside and Melbu teleported to behind him. Fortunately, Sean spun to block, but again, Melbu teleported. Sean swung his blade across himself to block, then back again to block on the other side. Not once had Melbu actually struck yet. Sean swung around to block another fake, then shot his foot backwards and nailed Melbu in the stomach. He stumbled back and looked up. Sean was faster than Melbu had ever imagined he would be.

Ben pushed himself onto a knee. Wow. That last attack really hurt! He looked up and saw Sean fighting solo. Man, the dude could _fight_! It reminded him of the duel they had before the virages had attacked. Come to think of it, they never had finished off that duel! Either way, Ben saw the same intensity in Sean's eyes as he had during the duel. Ben must have been a pretty good fighter as well if he was measuring up there with Melbu Frahma. Ben began trying to stand again, but was quickly frozen in place.

Melbu poured all his magic into a mixture of strength and speed just to match Sean's abilities. He jumped to him and swung down hard. Sean felt the sword vibrate in his hands. Melbu did a small teleport, just to bring his arms back up without delaying time, so he could swing once more the instant his sword hit Sean's. He did this several times to throw Sean off balance, so he could make his next move. Without warning, he made a teleportation shift, swinging the other way. Somehow, Sean's instinct kicked in enough to move his sword down to barely block. However, he couldn't think fast enough to counter the teleportation shift that took place immediately after. Melbu swung back and swung. Sean tried jumping back, but Melbu's blade sliced horizontally through his stomach and Melbu forced him back with a wave beam.

Sean stumbled back and dropped his sword. Ben's heart stopped. Not once had he ever seen Sean drop his sword. Sean caught his balance and hunched over a bit. Melbu stood still.

Sean put his hand over his wound and looked at the blood steadily oozing from it.

Melbu grinned.

Ben's blood ran cold.

Sean looked at the blood on his hands, then up, glaring at Melbu. Then, he looked over and his eyes locked with Ben's.

A small smile slid on his face briefly.

Sean's body fell to the ground.

The Dragoon spirit on Sean's chest shone brightly in a cry of sorrow and anger, but quickly dimmed out.

Melbu turned to his other opponent with an evil smile.

"Next victim."

Ben thought the hilt of his sword would break due to how tight his fist gripped it. He pushed himself to his feet.

"You'll pay for this…"

"Come make me!" Melbu taunted.

Ben ran at him and struck down with great intensity. Melbu teleported to behind him and kicked him away. Ben charged again and this time was able to counted Melbu's teleport attack, but not twice. Melbu struck his back with his blade. Thank goodness he had the armor he did. Melbu forced him away with a wave beam.

"Come, now." Melbu chuckled. "Sean was much more of a challenge than this. Of course, he was raised by a wingly and a dragon. You, on the other hand, were raised by a human, whom I killed. What chance to you stand?"

Ben's eyes burned. How he hated Melbu Frahma. Ben shot a fiery wave at him, but Melbu jumped clear over it and swung down. Ben blocked and countered, but no attack hit its mark. Melbu struck three times, rapidly. Ben was barely able to block the attacks. Then, Melbu performed two spinning kicks. The first hit Ben's face and the second kicked the sword out of his hand. Melbu shot another beam, flipping Ben in the air. He landed on his stomach and the wind was knocked out of him.

Melbu walked up to him and planted the tip of his blade at Ben's face, then made a quick slice on his cheek.

"Strike one." He said, stepping back. He tossed Ben's sword to him and it landed at his side.

Ben couldn't believe it. Melbu was toying with him!

Angrily, Ben pulled himself up and ran again. He faked an attack, and then spun around to go the other way. Melbu blocked and countered, which Ben also blocked. Ben kicked and Melbu cut his leg across the shin.

"AHH!" He stumbled and Melbu kicked the sword from his hand again and jumped in the air, planting a two-footed kick on Ben's chest. Ben hit a wall and fell to his face. Melbu made another mark on Ben's cheek, alongside the first one.

"Strike two." Ben forced himself onto his feet, hobbling.

_Ben._ The Red-Eyed Dragon said. _Your anger is hindering you! Calm down and think!_

Ben took a breath. The dragon was right. Just one strike left. He'd make it Melbu's mistake for letting him live.

Ben shot forward like a rocket, but stopped short and launched a few fireballs at Melbu, who took the hit in surprise, then jumped up and swung his sword down. Melbu blocked and Ben backflipped, kicking Melbu's face and fired another fireball. Melbu teleported around him and forced him back with a wave, then shot forward and kicked him back, then planted three quick strikes and kicked his blade from his hand once more. Melbu swung just far enough to make one more mark on Ben's face, next to the other two, then kicked him in the gut and sent him flying with a blast. Ben hit the ground and rolled, ending up on his stomach, next to Sean.

"Dragoon," Ben said, "You've just struck out."

To make matters worst, Ben's powers began leaving him. He de-transformed into a normal human.

_I'm sorry, Ben._ The Red-Eyed Dragon said. _I am out of strength…_

_And I'm out of time._ Ben thought. He was hurt pretty bad, but was able to push himself onto a knee. Melbu was slowly walking over to him, savoring the moment. Ben looked over at his fallen friend. Sean was lying on his side with his front facing Ben. Ben looked Sean's stomach. It was so covered in blood that he couldn't even see the wound.

Upon seeing another dragoon spirit, the Divine Dragoon Spirit shimmered a little. The light was dim, for it had no user, but through his own dragoon spirit, Ben felt the dragon's pain. He actually felt sad, due to the wave of emotion, but he also felt the dragon's anger and it infuriated him.

Ben was momentarily confused. How could he feel the dragon's emotions? Even more perplexing, how were the dragon's emotions affecting his own? Then, Ben remembered how the dragoon spirits were sort of psychically linked and worked off one another, but he didn't know that the bond was so strong…

Ben's thoughts were interrupted as the tip of Melbu's blade rested under Ben's chin and lifted his head up. Melbu pulled the sword back and smiled.

"Sean was the only one I figured might be a real adversary. I never expected much out of you…and I was not disappointed. Yes, Sean taught you everything you know, but it wasn't enough." Melbu laughed. "Even the power of a dragon cannot help you now." He reeled back his sword.

Ben looked Melbu dead in the eye. "How about two?"

Lighting-quick, Ben shot his hand down and grabbed Sean's dragoon spirit. He yanked it off the chain with a quick snap and held it up to block Melbu's attack.

Reacting instantly, the Red-Eye Dragon activated the foreign spirit and a bright light emitted from it, creating a suitable shield, which stopped Melbu's attack cold and shot him across the room.

The spirit continued to glow in Ben's hand and soon floated out of it and impaled itself in Ben's chest. A new form of power rushed through Ben as the Divine Powers made their way through is body. Ben's entire body glowed brightly.

When it was over, Ben still looked the same, but he had a sort of radiance to him. Ben had never felt such a rush, but that was only on low power! Of course, the Divine Dragon shared its power with the Red-Eye Dragon, giving it more energy so they could combine their powers.

Melbu could barely believe his eyes.

"Impossible…" He whispered.

Ben smiled, and then fired a mixed energy beam at Melbu, who thought it best to jump away from it. Ben zoomed over to him and punched him three times, then kicked him away. Ben lifted both of his hands and both his sword and Sean's sword came to him. He jumped at Melbu, spinning wildly. Melbu teleported away. Ben fired a blast where he knew he would end up.

Melbu charged at him with a yell and Ben blocked the attack with both blades, and then turned to block the teleporting attack. Melbu began using the same light-speed attacks he had used to defeat Sean. Instead of just blocking, Ben spun with both blades, deflecting every attack, then spun back to block another and turned yet again to parry an attack and hit Melbu in the face with the butt of his blade. Melbu charged again. Ben put up one blade to block, then stuck the other in the ground and put all his weight on it. With inhuman strength, Ben lifted his legs up and clutched Melbu within them and flipped him over his head, slamming him into the ground.

Melbu Frahma got up and jumped back, blade ready, but not so confident. All at once, Ben saw his plan to defeat Melbu. It marveled him.

Ben went on the offensive, swinging wildly, forcing Melbu back as he blocked the attacks, then he was able to get one good kick on Melbu's face, nearly toppling him.

Melbu was about to turn and block Ben's next move, but saw something in the corner of his eye. He turned around and Ben stopped his assault. Melbu had fully turned now, but he could make no further movement in his awe.

"Hi there." Sean said with a cocky grin. He lifted up a blade and Melbu instinctively put up his own to block it. Only too late did Melbu see the blade. Ben had Sean's blade as well as his own, so what could Sean have possibly used? Even if given time to ponder, Melbu could not have foreseen this, for it was a secret only Sean knew.

The blade was very odd indeed. The hilt was like a dragon's head. The wielder of the blade would stick their hand inside the back of the head and grip the blade on the inside. This activated the sword, which could not have been crafted by a human. A fiery blade would emerge from the mouth of the dragon, but the element mattered not. Melbu knew this weapon. He had designed it.

The Dragon Buster. It was a sword of incredible power, created to kill dragons. It could cut right through their scales. It was possible to parry the blade, but Melbu had neglected to put any power into it, making it nearly useless.

The awesome power of the dragon buster cut right through Melbu's wingly blade and sliced his chest, and then Sean kicked him around. Ben sliced him with his blades, spinning him back for anther attack from Sean. Both Dragoons attacked furiously from both sides, then at last each stabbed Melbu from a different side.

Melbu's eyes widened and he glared at them. "How…dare…you!"

Ben tossed the Divine Dragoon Spirit back to Sean and they each fired a blast of energy at Melbu, sealing his fate. The magic embodied within him created a great explosion. Ben and Sean protected themselves with their magic and Melbu was no more.

Ben walked up to Sean, stunned. "I thought you were dead!"

Sean chuckled. "In other circumstances, I could've been."

"What do you mean?"

Sean held up an empty vial. "Healing Fog. If I acted quickly enough, it could heal the wound before I lost too much blood. Unfortunately, there was no way I could use it without Melbu stopping me. Then, I remembered you were still around, so I allowed myself to fall."

Ben couldn't believe it. "For crying out loud, man! You had me worried!"

"Sorry, but I knew you could handle him."

"Barely."

"You used your mind and acted quickly." Sean smiled. "Very becoming of a true Dragoon."

Ben smiled. "Good to see you're still with us."

Sean nodded. Suddenly, large pieces of rubble fell all around them.

"Now what?" Ben exclaimed.

"The tower is collapsing!" Sean said. "We must leave!" Their spirits glowed again and they took to the sky. They launched themselves out through one of the walls at an upward angle to get as far away as they could. They looked back and saw the tower collapse fully. The power of Mayfil died once more.

Both boys breathed heavily as the world fell back into place.

"So," Sean said. "You just saved the world…how do you feel?"

"I think the word," Ben replied, "Is 'relieved'."

Sean smiled. "It's always like that for me."

"Must have been tough." Ben said.

"It was, at times. However, this, by far, was the toughest." He looked at Ben. I gotta admit. "Without you guys, I couldn't have done it."

Ben smiled to him. "And how does that make _you_ feel?"

Sean chuckled. "Rested."

"I think that's what we're all here for, really."

"Yeah…thanks a lot." He extended his hand. Ben took it and shook, then pulled him in for an embrace. Sean thought it somewhat awkward, but then he thought it as a good feeling. They parted and he looked down. "Here come the others."

Six other dragoons flew to them and they all landed, immediately sharing their stories.

* * *

They stayed there, talking long into the night. At one point, conversation slowed to a halt and there was a minute of silence.

Restless, Robert stood up and looked around. Seeming unsatisfied, he walked around here and there for a bit, seeming to look for something. He threw his hands up and let them drop to his sides.

"What are you doing?" Brittany finally asked.

"It's so weird! I mean, look at us! We just saved the world from a power-mad wingly dictator freak and…that's it! I mean look!" He waved his hand around. "No big celebration, no cheering, grateful humans, no small, insignificant species to thank us for saving their race! Just…a big field of nothingness!"

"The silence _is_ very awkward," Mike had to agree.

Sean nodded. "It is, usually. You save the human species and nothing happens. You go home and try to act like nothing happened."

"It doesn't seem right." Brittany grumbled.

Ben shook his head. "I'm just happy to be alive." No one could argue with that one.

"So…now what?" Brad finally asked.

Sean shrugged. "Who knows? All we can do is keep training and look out for the next battle."

"When does it end?" Christie asked to no one in particular.

Sean let out a heavy sigh. "Sometimes, I ask myself that. I honestly don't know, but we can't slack off. We'll continue our training so that we're ready for whatever comes next."

They all nodded.

"Well," Brad said. "That's all fine and well, but I meant what do we do _right_ now? Does anyone know how to get home?"

Silence.

"Uh-oh." Mike said.

Sean scratched his head. "Geez. I hadn't counted on this."

"Not to fear." A voice said to them. They all turned to see Charle and a group of winglies landing near them. "I felt my brother fall, as well as Mayfil."

"Well, that's good." Brad said. "Cuz we have no idea where we are."

"We shall guide you home. Are you all alright?"

"Emotions are mixing," Melissa described. "But we're alright."

"Good to hear. Now, just follow us."

* * *

After a while, they knew where they were and bid the winglies farewell…for now.

The Dragoons landed at the clearing in the woods and de-transformed.

"Okay." Brittany said. "I need a shower and I need to sleep."

"I second that notion." Robert said, raising his hand.

"We all need it." Sean agreed. "Let's go home."

"So casual." Robert muttered as they walked off.

* * *

Sean arose the next day at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. He felt strangely refreshed. Sean peeled himself from the bed and dressed. He walked around the house and into the living room. His dad was sitting on the couch, watching a movie with a bowl of popcorn. Sean walked over and sat next to him and began watching the movie with him.

Hank didn't even look at Sean. He just kept his gaze on the TV screen and handed the bowl of popcorn to Sean, who munched a little.

"So," Hank finally said, "did the evil genius have a name?"

Sean nodded. "Melbu Frahma."

"Sounds familiar."

"He was the wingly dictator during the dragon campaign…and he fought the last dragoons eight hundred years ago."

"What's he doing alive?" Hank grabbed anther fistful of popcorn.

"He has contacts." Sean said.

"Sounds like an idiot. I mean, he's 0 and 2, right?"

"0 and 3 now. I doubt we'll be hearing any more from him, though."

"Mm." Hank grew silent. Sean finally decided to tell him.

"He's the one who told Zachwell about Anna." Hank didn't move. "That's how he knew about us."

Hank was still for a while. "You killed him, right?"

"Yeah."

"Did you hurt him bad?"

"I would assume." Sean guessed. "And I'm sure he was humiliated by his third defeat."

Hank nodded. "Then it's alright."

Not another word was spoken on the subject.

* * *

Mike pulled his car into the driveway and parked it. He made no further movement. Melissa, sitting next to him, looked over at her brother. His gaze was glued on the house.

"You okay?" She asked him.

Mike shook his head.

She tried moving him. "You rushed right into Melbu Frahma, but you can't face your own mother?"

"It's not that I'm scared of her," Mike defended. "It's just that I'm afraid of what I'll say."

She rubbed his arm. "It'll be fine. C'mon. Let's go." She got out. Mike took a deep breath and got out of the car. His steps were small and thus, his walk was slow. Melissa took his arm in hers and guided him along the sidewalk. They hadn't gone far when the door opened and a woman stepped out. Both parties stopped moving, still several feet from each other.

"Michael." She said.

"Mom." He returned, unsure what else to say.

She gave a small chuckle. "You've really grown."

He nodded. "It's been a while." Melissa knew that was his nice way of putting it.

"Yeah." She had to agree. "It has." There was a short silence. "You still sore at me?"

Honestly, Mike nodded. "A little."

She game a small grin. "I guess that's all I can expect, huh?"

Mike's jaw clenched. "You tore us apart."

Her face softened. "Mike, I'm so sorry."

He shook his head. "No, you're not…I can't believe it! You're still lying."

Just then, a head poked out from inside the house. It was a man about his mother's age, Mike noted. A boyfriend, no doubt.

"Uh, hi." He said, nervously. He nodded towards Mike. "That him?"

"Yeah. Mike, this is David."

Mike bit his lower lip and shook his head. "I got some stuff to do, alright? I'll see you later." He turned to leave.

"Hey, Mike!" David beckoned. Mike turned to him. "I'm real sorry about your dad."

Mike looked at his mother. "At least someone is." Then, he left.

"I don't believe this." His mother shook her head. "All these years and he's still mad at me."

"He's had a very rough life, Mom." Melissa defended him. "Ever since the divorce, he's been fighting for his life! He had to get a million small jobs to help dad make ends meet. He actually taught himself how to fight to prevent being mugged or killed! He kept himself and dad alive for the past six years!"

Her mother gave her a look. "And just how do you know all this?"

Melissa crossed her arms in defiance. "Because I've seen it with my own eyes. I've visited Dad and Mike."

"You WHAT?" Her mother exclaimed. "Against the court order!"

"That's right, Mom, and against _your_ order."

"And exactly _when_ was this?"

"Which visit? I've been there so many times that I've lost count?"

"WHAT?"

"I wanted to help Dad and I wanted to help Mike. You may have forgotten them, but I still loved them! And you can't change that." Melissa turned away and began walking down the street with no particular place to go.

* * *

Brad performed a spinning kick and Robert rolled away. They were practicing in the clearing.

"So anyway," Robert picked up where he'd left off, "I wake up this morning and guess what happens."

"What?" Brad swung a punch and Robert blocked it.

"Nothing!" Another block. "Birds chirping, lawn mowers humming, that's it!"

"What are you getting at?" Three quick punches, all blocked.

"We saved the human race and the world doesn't even flinch; things just keep going how they went without hesitation."

Brad jumped back from Rob's spear. "Well, what did you expect, a big thank you sign in the sky?"

"Kind of, yeah!" He swung a low kick, tripping Brad, and then put his spear to his head. "I win."

"Fine, whatever. Get off me!" Robert helped him up.

"Lose again?" Brittany said, poking her head in.

"Keep talking." Brad grumbled.

"Care to take me on?" She taunted.

Brad gave her a look. "You think you can win?"

"Against you? I am quite confident."

Robert laughed. "Alright, well, Brad, as much as I'd love to see you get your butt kicked, I've already arranged to kick Mike's butt at the arcade. See ya 'round."

Brad shook his head as he left and prepared to fight Brittany.

"If you should win," Brad said, "Keep in mind that I've already fought against Robert."

"A real man wouldn't make excuses." Brittany teased. She swung the first attack and Brad jumped back to avoid it, but didn't make his own move, so she swung two spinning attacks and Brad avoided them.

Brittany swung a low attack, then a high one. Brad jumped over the first swipe, then ducked under the second and dove at her. Brittany took the hit and flipped him over her head. They both jumped back up and Brad swung a few low strikes. Brittany positioned her mallet to block them, and then swung a low swipe. Brad jumped, as she expected. Acting quickly, she placed the large end of her mallet on the ground and swung over it to kick him down.

However, two things happened. First, Brad tried ducking back, so Brittany got more momentum than she had planned. Second, she evidently had placed her mallet on uneven ground and it slipped out from under her. Those forces combined crashed her into Brad, knocking them onto the ground with her lying on top of him.

"Well," Brittany said. "That didn't quite go as planed." But when she noticed her position, she didn't mind it. Brad chuckled and she bounced on his chest with every movement. Brittany felt very content in this position. She put her elbows on his chest, folder her hands, and rested her chin on them, gazing into Brad's eyes.

Brad thought it was rather awkward.

"Uh…you can get up now."

"No I can't." She protested.

"You can't?"

"Mm-mm."

"Why not?"

"My leg broke."

Brad gave her a weird look. "Your leg broke?"

"Yeah."

"Is that so? Well, can't you just hobble on the other leg?"

"They both broke."

"Both of them?" Brad clarified.

"Yep."

"Brittany, what are you doing?"

She laid her arms on Brad's chest and rested her weight on them to be slightly closer to his face.

"I like you, Brad."

His brows perked. "What?"

"I really like you. I think you're really cool, I think you're really sexy, and I see no reason to remove myself from you."

"Uh…" Brad was speechless. "Really?"

"Yeah. In fact, I've liked you ever since I met you."

"You did?"

"Yep."

Brad had to chuckle. "You're the most outgoing person I know! Why didn't you say anything?"

She grabbed the sides of his head and pulled herself closer. "That's what you do to me, Brad."

"Oh…" A smile slipped onto his face. He moved one hand up and put it around her. With the other, he brushed the hair from her face. "To tell the truth, I've always like you too."

"Yeah?" her smile grew.

"Yep."

"That's good." She moved down and kissed him full on the mouth. Brad returned it without question.

* * *

"And then you just left?" Robert asked Mike as they walked into the arcade.

"I had nothing more to say to her." Mike answered. He let out a heavy sigh. "It's gonna be rough."

"Sounds that way." Rob said. "But you know, you might have to be a bit more lenient."

"I know." Mike muttered. "I just had to get some things off my chest, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah." They began playing a fighting game. A moment or so into it, Mike spoke.

"So, Melissa tells me you made a little confession in Ulara."

Robert rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I had a crush on her for a while, but not any more."

"And that's why you made all those crude comments?"

"Yeah, yeah, back off."

"Alright. I'm just saying." Robert quickly won the battle on the screen. "The important thing is you've changed."

"Changed?" Rob raised a brow. "Ha! Improved? Yes. Changed? Not quite."

"How do you mean?"

"I respect the ladies a bit more, but I'm still a player."

Mike stifled a laugh. "Oh, is that so?"

"Darn straight it is!" he looked over and saw two very pretty girls at another game. "I'll prove it."

"How?"

"Come with me. I'll hook us up with those two girls over there."

"Them?" Mike's brows rose. "They're pretty hot."

"Exactly. C'mon."

"So you just go up to any girl and try to attract her to you? I mean, you don't know anything about them."

"Mike, they're hot and they play video games. How many girls can fit that description?"

"Let's talk to them."

"Alright, which to you prefer, blondes or brunettes?"

"Hey, either works."

"Atta boy."

* * *

"Hand me your Dragoon Spirit." Ben said.

"Why?" Christie asked. They were a little ways out of town, standing on a cliff overlooking a large ravine at sunset. It was a grand view that they both loved.

"Just do it. I want to demonstrate what I did against Melbu Frahma."

Christie took off the spirit and gave it to him. Ben removed his own and held them together. His shimmered, then the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit followed.

"You see?" He asked. "The dragons' bond is so strong that we can use someone else's through the power of our own. It combined my powers with Sean's and Melbu was helpless to stop me.

"Cool."

"Yeah. I think we can combine our powers at times and do some really cool stuff. I mean, look." Using both spirits, Ben was able to create an energy ball of both fire and light. The ball burned and glowed, creating such luminosity that he had to look away and throw the ball. They watched it make a bright explosion in the distance. "It's like a supernova." He chuckled.

"Combining elements." Christie nodded. "Very good, Ben."

"Thank you." He handed her dragoon spirit back to her and asked her a question. "Do you ever regret becoming a Dragoon?"

Christie sighed. "Sometimes. I mean it _is_ a very crazy living, you know? Being a Dragoon means taking on a lot of responsibility and that can be overwhelming at times. But then again, I feel good about what I'm doing. I'm helping save my race. We all have our parts to play and no one else can fill mine, so I'm going to do it right."

Ben nodded. "Exactly."

"Besides." She stepped in closer to Ben. "If it weren't for us becoming Dragoons, I might never have gotten you to come out of your shell…heck, I might not have known the depth of your emotion."

"Yeah, well, I, uh…okay."

Christie had to laugh and she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Do you ever regret becoming a Dragoon?"

Ben stroked her cheek and moved her lips towards his. "Not one bit." And he kissed her.

* * *

It was nighttime. Tonight, there would be a full moon and Melissa was not, under any circumstances, going to miss this chance. She got Sean to come with her and together, they flew high up in the sky. Sean was on low power and Melissa used her powers to disguise them in the darkness. They flew higher and higher, above the clouds. All of a sudden, the sky was opened up to them. The clouds were below and all that was above them was a black nothingness dotted with stars and a glowing, white moon.

"This is it." Melissa said.

"Wow." Sean looked around. "You were right. It's beautiful."

"I've wanted to show this to you for a long time. Until two nights ago, that was impossible."

"Yeah." Sean nodded. "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. All that matters is that things are different now."

Sean nodded with a smile. "Indeed they are." He floated over to her. "And I couldn't be happier."

Melissa grinned as she pressed herself against him. "It must've been tough for you."

"It was." Sean said. "So many times, I wanted to turn back, but I always felt that I couldn't. I was too afraid." He chuckled. "Melbu had actually planned on using that to destroy me…and he would've!"

"One strand of rope is easily broken, but eight strands are pretty tough to sever."

"That's right. Of course, our ropes are encased in multiple levels of dragon scales."

Their spirits glowed.

"More than just that." Melissa said, putting her hand over his heart. "We've also got friendship…and love."

Sean stroked her face with one hand. Melissa took that hand and rubbed her cheek in it, savoring the feel. Sean moved her head so that he could fully kiss her. They stayed there for a quite a while.

* * *

They had been seven normal kids with a small list of worries about them and few of them really knew each other. Then, a kid named Sean moved into town and changed everything for them. They were changed from ordinary humans into the Dragon Knights, the most powerful creatures in the history of the world, even if everyone had forgotten. It was now up to them to protect the human species, as well as anyone else who may need their help. No one else could do it for them, but they were all more than willing to do their part in this never-ending war with evil. Who knew where and when the next dark force would strike? None of them could fathom it, but they would be ready.

Not only were they now fashioned into the ultimate fighting force, but now, they had come together to form an unbreakable bond. There had not been so strong a union since the last Dragoon Calling, and it would stay this way. They would grow together, fending off evil right beneath the noses of their fellow humans.

The next day, the eight of them sat together in the food court at the mall. They talked and laughed like anyone would. No one would suspect them of their true identities. They looked around them at the dozens of people who would never know anything about what they did. They were all so blind, so ignorant to the truth. They couldn't help it; that's just how they were.

Robert knew that with all the people around them, they couldn't really discuss what they had done, so he just held up his drink a little and motioned to the others to do the same. They all understood. They lifted their drinks and brought them together in a toast. It was a toast to them, a toast to the dragons, and a toast to the world, which they would protect.

That's the way things were now, and none of them preferred to change it.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" The Violet Dragon asked his companions in the linked world they had created. "These kids have potential, do they not?"

"Potential?" The Golden Dragon scoffed. "More than just that, my friend!"

"True." Said the Jade Dragon. "They have proven themselves more than enough times, at least for my sake."

The Blue-Sea Dragon nodded. "They have far exceeded what I expected from a group so young."

"Younger ones are easy to mold." The White-Silver Dragon put in. "They have a foundation now and they will not sway from their calling."

"They're a great bunch." The Dark Dragon agreed. "We were all very wise in our choosing, I must say."

The Red-Eye Dragon looked around. "So…we did a good job, eh?"

The Divine Dragon nodded with a dragon-like grin. "Yeah. We did good job."

THE END

AUTHORS' NOTE: And that's the way it was. I hope you enjoyed this new version of our first story-I know I enjoyed writing it. Please review one last time and tell us what you thought.

You older viewers may remember Spike's sequel to this story: TLOD: The Next Generation: The Return. Well, two things on that subject. One, it has a new name: TLOD: The Next Generation: Cataclysmic Reunion. Two, Spike is still working on upgrading that story. To fill the time, I, Archangel has conjured up a new story: TLOD: The NExt Generation: Shadow Dragoon. I will begin posting it soon enough. It will still be under the name SpikeandArchangel.

But that's all for this story. Again, Spike and I really hope you all enjoyed this book and we hope you will enjoy the rest of the series. Thank you all for your kindness and support with your reviews-we've enjoyed every one. Farewell for now! Ciao!


End file.
